25 Years of the Golden Rule

Two things were obvious on Friday, May 29, at Tommie Barfield Elementary School (TBE) as Diane Fowler worked her magic one last time with the students she loves: 1) She’s going to miss the students. 2) The students are going to miss her.

"I was working at a church when I came here,” Fowler said, "and I thought, ‘You know, I'm going to carry on my beliefs in the Golden Rule and treat everyone else's kid the way I would want my own kid to be treated.' So that kind of carried me through. Sometimes kids get frustrated, and they get unhappy and they have little tantrums. I try to bring them down to a happier place. It all goes back to the Golden Rule. Treat other people the way you want to be treated yourself.”

As she shows up for the bus line, one of her duties as the TBE's safe schools assistant, one of her students is waiting excitedly to give her a card he and his sister made for her. Fowler makes a fuss over the homemade card and shares a memory with the student. “You know, I still have the cup your sister gave me. It says, ‘Kind people are my kind of people.’”

Fowler has nothing but fond memories of her 25 years at Tommie Barfield. In fact, she wishes she didn’t have to retire.

“The love of kids is what drives me in this job,” she said. "And I really don't want to retire, but by contract, I would have to retire by next year and I wouldn't be able to finish out the whole year. So I'd rather just have them start fresh with somebody from the beginning of the year. I would probably never leave here if I didn't have to."

As she is saying goodbye to one group of students, Fowler notices a young girl sitting on the sidewalk crying. She's crying because Fowler is retiring and she thinks she won’t see her again. Fowler comforts her and a minute later, the same girl runs up to Fowler with a lei. “I found this in the bushes!” she exclaims. Fowler immediately puts the lei around her neck.

"She brought me flowers,” Fowler said. "She's a sweetheart. Isabella. She was in my recess group, so we had a very good bond. She found this lei in the bush and forgot all about being sad.”

A fond memory for Fowler was when she was selected as Collier County Public School District’s Employee of the Year in 2003. She was nominated by Jory Westberry, TBE’s principal at the time. She was touched when Westberry showed up for a surprise ceremony the school held for Fowler on Thursday.

"They had a little ceremony for me at the talent show,” she said. “It was a total surprise. They kept saying, 'Mrs. Fowler, you need to come in from your crossing guard duty.' When I got there, my husband had put balloons up. He left the house early and put balloons on the fence and a sign that says, “Mrs. Fowler is retiring after 25 years.” So he came in with me. When they honored me, I didn't cry, really, but Jory showed up. Then I looked over and I saw my son, Kit. He said a few things. I said a few things. Some of the kids said some really nice things. One boy, I didn't even realize I made such an impact on him. He read something thanking me for getting him through such hard times. And that he really appreciates it. He's reading this in front of like 400 or 500 people. And I didn't even realize I had impacted him that much. You just don't know.”

Fowler said TBE reading coach Molly Skudnig planned her tribute.

“If I could remember some of the nice things they said to me, I might make you cry,” Fowler said. "It was just yesterday. I was very, very emotional with that ceremony. I love that song Oh Very Young by Cat Stevens. I put it on my Facebook page once, and I bet you Molly Skudnig probably heard it. And when they called me up to the stage, that song was playing. That really got me. But I had to recover quickly. I always tell her, 'I don't know what we ever did at this school before you worked here.' She does so much. It's unbelievable."

Fowler is looking forward to catching up on some household projects in retirement.

"Right now,” she said, "my house needs major attention. Because when you work full-time, you just say, ‘Oh, I'll get to that later.’ I’ve got over 200 notes, maybe over 300, plus a signed yearbook. I got a hat that I think Mrs. Skudnig had a bunch of people sign. I haven't even gone through all the notes, letters, and sealed envelopes. I don't know what's in there. I'm keeping all of it. I have a notebook. The kids also make me art every day. There's one girl that draws me something very intricate every day. She's in first grade. I'm keeping all of the art that they made me. I've got it all. I just need to organize it. That's one of the things I'm going to do in retirement because I never want to forget. I mean, it just comes from a pure place of love."