Not that long ago a teacher could retire not knowing if he or she had made a difference, but social media changed that for Janet Lorio and it has helped her ease into retirement knowing she’d done just that after 42-1/2 years as an educator.
“Congratulations on your retirement,” wrote former student Kim Barrios. “I am blessed to be in both categories (former student and co-worker). Thanks for everything that you have taught me in both situations. You are a great mentor.”
Michelle Cousin added, “Ms. Janet. You have been such a positive and motivational influence for many of us and deserve a long, fulfilling and relaxing retirement. Get in touch if your travels take you through Florida.”
According to former student Katie Gravolet, “Congrats. Hands down best teacher ever. 42.5 years as a positive influence deserves an excellent next chapter.”
Carol Disler Alvarado recalled, “I’m writing to you today because I wanted to tell you about how something you did changed my life. If I remember correctly, it was in your calculus class back in 1990-91 that you wrote ‘AMDG’ on the board and asked us to find out what it meant. ‘Ad majorem dei gloriam’ for the greater glory of God. In my head I remember you explaining to us how even math could be used to glorify Him. I loved this. It is so much a part of who I am today.”
These comments are just a sampling of the more than 100 messages, comments and replies posted in tribute to Lorio.Asked what teaching math more than 40 years has meant to her, she replied, “It was a good ride.”
But Lorio readily added it was the people and students who made this time special and, more so, when she learned of the lives she has touched. It came at the best possible time.“This has really helped me to be grateful for the life that I’d had,” she said. “It’s been very fulfilling for me.”When she entered Nicholls State University in Thibodaux and was deciding her path in life, she took the college board test and got six hours of credit in math.
“What am I going to do with a math degree?” she asked herself. “I’m a pretty good people person. I think I’ll try education.”
And that’s what she did in both public and private schools.
Lorio started teaching at Destrehan High School (DHS), went on to Hahnville High School (HHS), then J.B. Martin Middle School and then back to HHS, where she retired, having worked collectively 25-1/2 years in the St. Charles Parish school system. She worked at Archbishop Blenk High School in Gretna for 17 years.
When she started teaching at DHS in 1970, her salary was $6,900 a year in the highest paid school district in Louisiana and that was with a raise the state had just approved. Today’s teachers average $42,000 a year in starting pay.
Lorio and her husband wanted a job that would fit their plans to have children and fill their pocketbook.
It worked.
Jeffrey, their son, who is 39 years old working as a coach at Loyola University in New Orleans, didn’t think his mother had a job. She had fresh baked cookies waiting on him from school and they had summers together.
Anyone wondering who the better students were in math need wonder no more. Lorio said she thought it was her male students until she taught Catholic girls for 17 years and watched them excel in the subject.
“There was never a day that I woke and didn’t say that I loved my job,” Lorio said.
But she knew one day she wouldn’t feel that way and that day she’d retire. She officially retired in June.
The big moment came when she announced one evening to her husband, “Okay, I’m ready,” but he said, “For dinner?” Lorio mused about how oblivious men can be and told him, “Yea, that, too. But I’m ready to retire.”
Lorio said the same enthusiasm and passion wasn’t there anymore, and she wanted to leave when she was still considered that person.
The transition from “working forever to not working at all has been easy” for her. Lorio babysits her granddaughter, as well as stays busy with sewing, something she didn’t have time to do in 15 years, and she’s making quilts. She’s having lunch with her husband, dabbling in art again and helping her friends in need.
“I fill my days,” she said. “They’re always busy.”
It’s all working out for Lorio – she did the math.
All of these bright moments go into the gratitude journal she is keeping, although there is one entry that states, “Exercise did not work out.” However, she has been walking and that’s nicely translated into more quality time with her husband.
People often ask about what she has seen change in education, but she said, while styles may change, students haven’t really changed. They have the same quirks, but she demanded respect in the classroom – and got it.
The parting thought on whether Lorio made a difference – and many teachers wonder about this – came from former student Carol Disler Alvarado who got a master’s degree in education, specialized in math and is a teacher in Naples, Italy.
“We had T-shirts made with our class theme ‘ad majorem dei gloriam,’” Alvarado told Lorio in an email. “Back in September, the very first day of class, I did the same thing you did. I wrote AMDG on the board and had them find out what it means. When they all came back with the answer I told them about you, 20-plus years ago, changing the entire course of my life with those four letters.
“I know that those same four letters are working in the hearts of at least 19 more teenagers. Probably more, because I’ve been using your example for as long as I can remember. Really … I can’t thank you enough.”
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