Unfortunately, neither of my promised interviews are ready for publication yet, so…”Desperate times call for desperate measures!”
With apologies to Hippocrates, I offer my desperate measure.
The subject of this week’s “MHS Grads: Where Are They Now?” is…wait for it…ME!
Yes, I, Judith Eileen (Berg) Foust, am a graduate of the MHS Class of 1967.
Menomonie High School was much different back in the olden days! The current high school was brand new and included both the junior high (grades 7- 8) and the senior high (grades 9 – 12). It was exciting to be in the first class to attend all six grades 7 – 12 in the “new” school. To this day I suspect many of my classmates still refer to that structure as “new!”
I was never an athlete; rather I excelled academically and loved being involved in many different interest areas—choir, forensics, The Maroon Warrior (our school newspaper) and Student Council. The award I consider to be my most amazing achievement as a high school senior was the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow award! I had to include this because, to this day, my friends still can’t believe it. As I often say, “I have a kitchen because I heard that it’s good for resale.”
It was during my Sophomore year in high school that I got my first real job—writing obituaries for the Dunn County News (not the most exciting job I’ve ever held)!
After graduation, I obtained my BA degree in Comprehensive English (literature major and composition minor) through the School of Education at Wisconsin State University-Eau Claire (now known as UW-Eau Claire).
In the ensuing years, I taught in four Wisconsin school districts—Stratford, Marshfield, Random Lake, and my old alma mater Menomonie. Initially I had dreamed of teaching high school English in a large metropolitan school district. But that dream changed when I began teaching Seventh Grade Reading at Stratford. I fell in love with seventh grade and seventh graders. Thirty- seven years later, I finally “graduated” from that grade level when I retired.
During my time in Wisconsin’s public schools I was named Teacher of the Year at both Random Lake and Menomonie Junior High/Middle Schools. I was also named Walmart’s Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, a Herb Kohl Foundation Teaching Fellow, a Wisconsin Holocaust Educator, and received the WEAC Wisconsin’s Friend of Education Award.
After obtaining my Masters Degree in Middle School Education, I began a Doctorate in Gifted Education at the University of Minnesota. But, as often happens, fate has a way of changing our life’s plans….
While I’m officially retired from classroom teaching, I still teach online graduate professional development courses for educators through Mid-America Nazarine University and serve as a motivational and educational public speaker throughout the Midwest.
My proudest personal accomplishment has been raising my daughter, Jess Nickelsen (a high school Spanish teacher in Minnesota) who daily makes her mama proud. When she gifted me with my grandson Matthew 20 years ago (who is currently working to save up money for technical college), my life became almost complete. It wasn’t until my “grand-dog-ter” Stella joined the family that were knew we had the icing on our family’s cake!
My proudest professional accomplishment are the years that I became known as the “Queen of the Middle School” – riding in several Homecoming parades right behind the “real” queens, while owning many cubic zirconium crowns. Even though I’ve been retired for 16 years, I still have people coming up and asking me where my crown is. I guess I’m a Menomonie legend in my own mind!
For those who think this article is too long, please give me grace. I am the oldest by far to appear in this column, and have had many more life experiences to wade through than my younger counterparts.
My goal—I hope I’ve encouraged graduates in their 50’s through 90’s who read this weekly column to contact me so they, too, can be included in future articles. It’s been said that everyone has a story and I’d love to tell yours!
Judy Foust is a retired longtime 7th Grade Reading Specialist at Menomonie Middle School. To submit info to her or to request an interview she may be contacted at [email protected]
