School system honors 88 retiring employees

After 31 years as an educator, Johnny Carr still needs to brush up on his vocabulary.

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Apparently, the Brookwood Elementary School music teacher never quite grasped the meaning of the word "retirement."

When he leaves his full-time post at the end of the school year, he will have more time to devote to his three part-time jobs. Carr is the interim minister of music at Curtis Baptist Church, he teaches a class at Augusta State University and he runs a recording studio.

He also will be back at Brookwood next year to teach music 2 days a week.

"I taught more than 15,000 children in my teaching career, and they're blessings," Carr said.

He said he still gets e-mails from students who tell him how much he has meant to them.

Carr was one of 88 soon-to-be former employees of the Columbia County school system being honored at a retirement reception at West Lake Country Club on Tuesday.

With the group of retirees, which included positions ranging from custodian to school superintendent, the system is losing more than two millenniums - 2,428 years - worth of experience.

Hugs and applause abounded at the retirement reception, and the group gave standing ovations to retiring Superintendent Tommy Price and his longtime secretary, Pam Zgutowicz.

Price, who has 36 years of experience, choked up when introducing Zgutowicz, who has 23 years of experience.

"One of the best things I ever did was hire Pam in 1994, and we worked together very closely for 13 years," he said.

Judy Dunn, a second-grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School, is retiring after 40 years as an educator.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything else," she said.