31-05-2025
St. John Paul II Elementary's Cahoy calls it a career, looks to retirement after 42 years in education
May 30—MITCHELL — Earlier this week, a trio of women gathered in Robin Cahoy's office at St. John Paul II Elementary School. Classes had recently let out for the summer, and the halls were devoid of student chatter, making for a peaceful environment in a space that is usually alive with energy during the school year.
The three have closed out a school year dozens of times before, but this year is different for them. Cahoy, principal at St. John Paul II, and Lynn Yahne and Janelle McMahon, both longtime teachers at the school, are retiring from decades-long careers in education, most of it spent at the private Catholic elementary school in Mitchell, where each has played a role in guiding young students through their elementary years before heading off to middle school.
It has been a career filled with more students than they can remember, changes in technology and teaching practices and an ongoing passion for education and faith.
All three have spent so long at St. John Paul II Elementary School that they are as familiar a sight in its classrooms as a blackboard, or in modern times an interactive Promethean board. But come next year, there will be new teachers and administrators taking their place, leaving them time to spend with their families and reflect on a career in educating local children.
Cahoy, a native of Estelline, has spent more than four decades at the school, serving 13 years as principal and 29 as a teacher. She studied education at what was then Dakota State College in Madison before seeking out a Catholic elementary school to begin her career.
"42 years. And they've all been here," Cahoy told the Mitchell Republic about her career during an interview with the retirees. "I did my student teaching at a Catholic school in Madison, and I liked it. I was searching out other things, too, but I really wanted to be in a Catholic school."
She had originally looked to teach home economics, but she soon realized that school districts generally had only one home economics teacher but multiple elementary grade teachers. It would be easier finding a job as an elementary classroom teacher, and her love of that age group made it an easy choice to shift gears upon her arrival in Mitchell.
Yahne arrived at St. John Paul Elementary the same year as Cahoy.
The Stickney native, 64, attended a one-room schoolhouse growing up and, also like Cahoy, attended Dakota State College in Madison. She worked for the public school system and a daycare center before finding her way to her current post.
Her journey began with a love of taking care of children, and she took her current teaching job after the school principal at the time offered it to her over a cup of coffee at the old Country Kitchen restaurant.
"Instead of going out on the weekends, I would be babysitting. A lot of babysitting. That's why I headed in that direction. It was something I wanted to do, and (the position at St. John's) was available, and I knew the principal Mary Wilson really well," Yahne said. "Every grade level is unique. It's just fun to be with them and see the ah-ha moments."
McMahon, who grew up in Lake Andes, is a relative newcomer among the retirees, having been with the school a mere 38 years.
She attended the University of South Dakota for her bachelor's and master's degrees, a journey that started through inspiration from her mother, who was a teacher for a time before dedicating herself to helping her husband on the farm. Her mother was also a classroom aide when she was in kindergarten, an arrangement that took a little getting used to.
"I couldn't call her mom," McMahon laughed. "I also did a lot of babysitting when I was a kid. It was just seeing the joy in kids' faces when they learned something that kept us coming back, I think for all of us."
It was a last-minute detour that brought her to St. John Paul II. She had applications out to teach but had also been booked to serve as a nanny to family friends in Europe. She was packed for the trip when on the Friday before the new school year started, she got a call that St. John Paul II needed a late replacement.
She changed plans and hasn't looked back.
"And I've been here ever since," McMahon said. "It was really hard for me to give it up, but there was just something that told me this is where I needed to be."
All three have since spent their careers at the school leading their classrooms — or the school itself in Cahoy's case. There have been role changes among all three, either in what grade they teach or other extra-curricular activity responsibilities. It has all been a positive experience, and all have fond memories of their students, colleagues and school patrons.
McMahon, 59, has particularly enjoyed teaching her fifth grade class. It's there she gets a chance to teach history, the discipline in which she studied for her master's.
"I dug in deep with my kids. It was just something that I loved, and many of them, I think, love it today because of that," McMahon said. "That's the joy. That's what my kids always tell me, that they got to learn to love history through some of the things I did."
Yahne said some of the pleasure of teaching at St. John Paul II was the ability to adjust their teaching styles to whatever best suited the students in the room. They had their guidance through the approved curriculum, but because teachers were given a leeway when it came to their teaching approach, they could tailor their lessons to make the most impact in the students' educational experience.
At a school where religion is part of the core educational experience, that is important, she said.
"That was what always made this place so great. We were allowed to be flexible. We could take the curriculum given to us, but we were allowed to mold it into what worked for our students. We weren't told that you have to do it this way or that way," Yahne said. "Then we could add the religion part into it, which could take it that one step further. I think with our religion — that was brought into every aspect of the day."
Cahoy, 64, enjoyed her time teaching in the classroom, but a leadership camp experience revealed a new path forward in her passion for education when she shifted into administration. It was a chance to change her guiding mentality from students to teachers and other school staffers, and it's a role she has embraced in the years she's occupied the principal's chair.
She has wrestled with all types of challenges over the years, but tends to focus on the positive developments, the ones that see students rise to their potential and teachers excel at their gifts for communication.
It's all for the benefit of the students, with the goal of providing them a solid education while strengthening their Catholic faith, she said.
"One of the successes for me was that at St. John Paul II Elementary School, our job is to connect kids to Christ and to help them get to Heaven. We do this with the academics plus faith to get the well-rounded student," Cahoy said. "Our St. John Paul II Elementary School mission is to create a family environment that promotes Catholic values, academic excellence and stewardship that will allow each unique child to be a disciple of Christ."
With the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year, the three longtime educators are working on clearing out their classrooms and offices of materials they have accumulated over the decades. Many serve as reminders of students from long ago and bring nearly-lost memories flooding back. Eyes glisten as they recall their favorite moments, and they admit there are too many to list them all.
They have about 122 years of collective education experience. Including another retiring teacher, Ruth Reiser, who herself taught for five years at St. John Paul II after 20 years teaching in a small town public school system, it totals almost a century-and-a-half of educating young minds.
The pleasure of teaching their students and working with their colleagues made the years roll by, and the extended St. John Paul II Elementary family has served as a warm embrace they all cherish. Schools of every stripe like to refer to themselves as a "family," and the three cite the heavy parental involvement in all aspects of the school as testament to that.
"The consistency of our parents. I mean, we've had really consistent parents. We can get through conferences with 99% attendance, because everybody comes," Cahoy said. "And everybody is interested in what their child is doing and things that the teacher has to say, both positive and negative. I think that's one thing where we are different."
With the retirement of Yahne and McMahon, new teachers will head up their classrooms come the 2025-26 school year. Cahoy stepping down paves the way for the arrival of new principal Sarah Timmer, currently serving as the curriculum director for the Mitchell School District, who was hired to succeed Cahoy.
After so many years of shepherding students through lessons and preparing them for the next step in their educational careers, it will be hard to let go of the routine, the fun times and the sense of accomplishment seeing students grasp difficult concepts in the classroom. But there is a time to move on, and they say now is the right moment for that.
Yahne said she can tell the time is right, even if she still feels the pull of the classroom.
"It was just time. And you want to end on a good note, I think, is a lot of it," Yahne said. "I've always told my husband that the day that I saw I don't want to go to school is the day I retire. I never got there, but it's getting closer."
McMahon noted that constantly keeping up with ever-evolving educational trends and techniques can be taxing as a teacher gets older, and it's also important to take some time for family. She is looking forward to a little time off, but admits the decision to step back was difficult.
Leaving her students, classroom and colleagues behind won't be easy, she said.
"These are my gals. It just wouldn't have been the same without them," McMahon said. "I was the last one to decide to go, because I thought I'd still be in for a couple more years. But it was tough. Writing my resignation, I had tears running down my eyes. I still do."
When her office is cleaned out and her work for the school is finally done, Cahoy will follow her friends out the door for the last time, at least as an employee. All three said St. John Paul II Elementary will remain a part of their history and who they are, and they expect they will see each other regularly in retirement. School patrons shouldn't be surprised to see them helping out around the school, or just visiting to say hello.
You don't dedicate decades to a cause and simply let it go, Cahoy said. She plans to take her time cleaning out her office to cherish the memories that were built in this place.
"I'll still come to Mass on Wednesdays. I have three grandkids here," Cahoy said. "(Cleaning out your desk) is not something you necessarily want to complete in a hurry because there are so many memories here."
