Trenton roots run deep for three Hedke educators

Hedke Elementary School is celebrating the recently announced retirements for three of the most veteran educators in the Trenton School District.

Each of these three educators has not only worked for the district for over 30 years but also is a graduate of the Trenton Public Schools as well.

They are the top three most senior educators on the seniority roster as of this school year.

Hedke Principal Vince Porreca is retiring after 32 years with the district.

He has worked at all three levels, including nine years as a social studies teacher at the high school, three years as the assistant principal at the middle school and is currently finishing his 20th year as the Principal at Hedke.

Vince is fond of telling people that his four sons are the 4th generation of his family to graduate from Trenton High School and quoting the cheer “We’re from Trenton! Who could be prouder?!”

When asked which level of schooling he preferred Mr. Porreca answered, “I loved something about every level of schooling.

“At THS it is fun to mentor the older students as they become more independent and are making more of their own choices about how to spend their time. I loved coaching and sponsoring the clubs at THS.”

About the Middle School he said, “during my time there we transitioned from Monguagon to AMS and changed our mascot, school colors, completed building renovations, adjusted the curriculum and moved 6th graders back to the middle school from the elementaries. It was a busy but exciting time and I was so proud of the teachers I met there who came alongside students during some of the most challenging years of their lives.

“At Hedke I have loved seeing the teachers work with our youngest students and how excited and passionate they are about student growth. The staff at Hedke truly believes all kids can learn and refuse to give up on a child. I think I am patient, but elementary teachers regularly put me to shame.

“It is important to ‘tend to’ our youngest students so they always feel supported because youth is full of mistakes and if we learn to fear failure we won’t reach our potential.

“I want to thank the teachers and students who I have worked with over the past three decades. I became a teacher because of some great teachers I had in my time at Trenton and as my sons went through I was proud to see that tradition continue with each of my own sons finding a special teacher or group of teachers who supported and mentored them.”

Andrea (Zimbalatti) Woody is a second grade teacher at Hedke.

After graduating THS in 1982 she went to the University of Michigan where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology. She completed her Masters Degree in Elementary

Education from Eastern Michigan while teaching at Hedke.

In 1991 she returned to her hometown and was hired by Cliff Mace to teach 5th grade. She taught that grade for three years before moving to second grade.

During her career she also taught first and third grades, but most of 34 years she has been in the 2nd grade.

Andrea taught with humor and loved interacting with her students the most.

She retires to spend time with her husband (working in their family business) and her own children.

She looks back at her time in teaching and has many fond memories including all of the staff she has worked with over her time here.

Teaching in Trenton, she said, has been a dream of hers as she loved growing up here as a child and always wanted to come back to work with kids.

It is hard to believe but Vince and Andrea are the babies of this group with Mrs. Lynne (Schendel) Herman retiring after over 38 years with the Trenton Public Schools.

Mrs. Herman graduated from Trenton in 1979 where she was a multi-sport athlete excelling in tennis. She received an athletic scholarship to play tennis at Western Michigan (WMU) where she was a four-year letter winner and where she received her Bachelor’s in elementary education.

She returned to Trenton where she began her teaching career at Anderson Elementary School as a fifth grade teacher.

In her career she taught at Anderson, the middle school and for the last 25 years has taught at Hedke as the PE teacher.

Lynne gave back through coaching as well. She served as a tennis coach at THS for 30 years with 26 of them as its head coach. In the summers she worked for the Trenton Parks and Recreation department where she ran the summer tennis program for “more years than she can remember.”

As an adult athlete she modeled what she taught as a coach and has continued to compete in tennis and golf and has won five club championships at Waters Edge golf club.

Though she never taught or coached for the recognition but did it because she “loved the kids,” she was also inducted into the City of Trenton Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions to Trenton’s tennis program and community throughout her career.

Mrs. Herman has always lived by her favorite quote “You can’t kid a kid so teach them well.”

She says that gave her motivation to, “remember to work hard every day as if you don’t, the students will be able to tell you aren’t giving your best.”

The Trenton schools will miss the over 100 years of experience of these educators. More than that however we will miss their deep ties and love for their community and the schools they were raised and educated in.