Lieser has worked in the food service department at the school 20 years. She worked three years as a substitute before joining the staff full-time in August of 1981.
“I started in the kitchen, then switched to the dishwash room. I’ve been in the new dish room two years,” Lieser said.
“Some days aren’t too bad in the wash room, it all depends on what is served at lunch and how much food the students throw away,” she said. Her day starts at 10 a.m. and she works until 2 p.m. each day. “You can’t complain about the hours,” she said.
After retirement, she plans on cleaning her house, working in her garden, mowing her lawn more often and spending time with her great-grandchildren. She also plans on spending more time with her husband, Victor. They have 20 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Johnson organizes her last 'play day'
After 27 years as the Paynesville elementary physical education teacher, Sharon Johnson will blow her whistle for the last time this week.
She started her teaching career 30 years ago in Calvin, N.D. at Border Central. After three years in Calvin, she moved to Paynesville where she has finished out her career.
“I’ve seen many changes over the years,” she said. “Due to the changing lifestyles of families, the kids are less physically fit and there are more special needs students in the district.”
When Johnson started, she taught first through fourth grade boys and girls and seventh grade girls. “I used to teach five days of double classes. Some years, I had three classes in a half-hour period of time,” she said. Now Johnson teaches single classes three days a week and has double classes on Fridays.
Through the physical education program, Johnson stresses fitness as a lifetime habit.
Johnson and her husband, Brad, raised two daughters in the Paynesville School System, Penny and Amy. Penny lives and works in Denver and Amy just graduated from college and will work in Chisago City in health and finance.
In 1992, they sold their Paynesville home and moved to Maple Grove. Johnson has been renting an apartment in Paynesville during the school year and traveling back and forth weekends and holidays. “ After retirement, Johnson said she is going to move home and enjoy her husband. “We do plan on moving back to Paynesville when Brad retires,” she added.