Mrs. Sue Haberer was honored with a retirement party in the board room at Springlake-Earth ISD on Monday, May 21, 2001. Friends, family, teachers, and former students visited with her at the come and go reception and expressed their love and appreciation for her dedication to education. Robert Conkin, superintendent, presented her with a Waterford cut glass biscuit barrel.
Mrs. Haberer taught in the field of Home Economics for 27 years--26 at Springlake-Earth and one at Muleshoe. She witnessed and took part in many changes that occurred during that time. When she first started her teaching career, there were two teachers in the home economics department, but due to lower school enrollment, she has been the only teacher in the department for the past several years.
The name of the program also changed. They advanced from being called "homemaking" to "Home Economics" and to "Vocational Home Economics." In order to keep up with technology, the name was again changed to "Career and Technology - Home Economics." To further keep up with the changing times, the program is now called "Family and Consumer Sciences." As the name changed, the programs' content also changed. The department is now more career and dual wage earner oriented, but is still keeping the family and the family's importance as the main focus of the program.
The youth leadership organization also saw some changes during the past 27 years. They started out being called Future Homemakers of America (FHA) and then advanced to FHA/HERO. Last year, the members voted to change the organization name to FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America). They felt that the new name better portrayed and represented the image of the youth and the skills they learned in their Family and Consumer Sciences classes. Mrs. Haberer said she has worked with many wonderful students and has had the privilege of being advisor to several Region Officers and STAR Event participants.
During her teaching career, she has been active in her professional association. She was on the Board of Directors for the Vocational Home Economics Teachers Association. Soon after, she served as the State President of this Association.
Mrs. Haberer started teaching at Springlake-Earth fresh out of Texas Tech. While at Earth, she met her husband, Don. They married and four years later their daughter, Staci, was born. Two years after that they had a son, Chris. They have lived and worked in the Earth area for 27 years.
Mrs. Haberer closed by saying, "My time at Springlake-Earth has been very enjoyable. I have always been proud of the students that I have taught and traveled with because of the way in which they have conducted themselves. They have always represented their school, organizations, and community with pride and dignity - and I am very proud to have been part of Springlake-Earth."
