Bluffton Elementary School music teacher Alice Basinger has retired after 30 years and was celebrated by her colleagues at a party during the last week of school. They presented her with an album of mementos from current students.

The Icon quizzed her, what did the teacher learn during her time at the elementary school? Basinger responded, “I tried to be more relaxed, because I’m very structured.” She also noted that she learned from the wisdom of other teachers including Nancy Fultz and Nancy Yeager.

She also commented on the importance of allowing students to make mistakes–because mistakes as well as successes help them learn–and that she came to realize that she learned from mistakes as well. While earning her masters degree “20 years in,” she says she rediscovered what it was like to be a student.

Is there anything different about teaching music? Basinger commented, “It’s wonderful that you meet the kids and have them for an extended time. When you’re around as long as I have been, you get children of kids you had 20 years ago, so it helps you to understand personalities.”

What’s next for Basinger? She notes that she plans to teach piano lessons, will do more playing for church and will always be connected to music somehow.