Howard and Lois Pettigrew say they have loved being teachers, but with recent changes both are now reluctant to recommend the profession as a career.
Howard began his teaching career in Granity on the West Coast in 1976 after three years training at Christchurch Teachers College.
After leaving the West Coast, he moved to Waimakariri to teach at Oxford District High School in its last year before it changed to an Area School.
That role was followed by a temporary position at Clarkville School for a few years before he began his first permanent position, at Fernside School.
Lois graduated from Christchurch Teachers College in 1981 and began her teaching career in Christchurch before heading to Fernside School where she met Howard.
After leaving Fernside School Howard taught at Cust School while Lois taught at Swannanoa for a few years before they married and moved to Springbrook, near Timaru.
Howard had his first experience as a principal at the sole-charge Springbrook School while Lois taught at Timaru West School.
In May 1989, they moved to North Loburn School, where Howard was the principal and Lois also joined the teaching staff as a principal-release teacher.
However, in 1997 Howard was on the move again, this time to a new job as Lecturer in IT at the Christchurch Teachers College.
Lois remained at North Loburn School.
In 2003 Howard accepted another role, this time working on a Ministry of Education three-year Professional Development contract, assisting with IT in 10 rural schools in the Waimakariri District.
Special highlights of his career have included meeting former Prime Minister David Lange who spent time ‘‘with us at Springbrook School in 1988, and being a very early adopter of the use of computers in the classroom”.
Howard’s interest in computers led to North Loburn School being a very early user of the internet and the pupils were involved with many pioneering projects including a programme called “Seaweek” where they were able to ask questions over the telephone of former Apollo 17 astronauts, Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt about their visit to the moon.
Howard worked with special needs children at Waitaha School and Rolleston College before he retired, a ‘‘dream’’ job for him.
"Getting to share my passions of computing, music, photography and woodworking with some remarkable students was extremely rewarding,” he says.
‘‘However the increasing fuel costs of travelling to Rolleston made it difficult to continue.”
For Lois, retiring after spending 37 years at North Loburn School will take a lot of adjustment.
"I will miss the children and my colleagues dearly,” she says. Meeting with former pupils and talking about their achievements has been a career highlight for her.
‘‘It is wonderful to see where their life paths have taken them.”
The couple plan to travel and play more croquet at the Rangiora Croquet Club in their retirement.
Howard, who is also chairperson of the North Canterbury Woodcraft Club, intends to do more wood turning and photography and Lois is looking forward to having more time for knitting, sewing and gardening.
