Luckstead proud of students’ gains in special education


After 29 years with the MCSD, Kelly Luckstead is retiring. She was the fifth and sixth-grade special education teacher. She’s enjoyed seeing her student excel inside the classroom over the years. (Photo by Kim Brooks)
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     After 29 years of teaching for the Monticello Community School District, Kelly Luckstead is retiring.

   “I’ve enjoyed my time here,” Luckstead said fondly. “But it’s the right time.”

   Luckstead is the fifth and sixth-grade special education teacher.

   “I support math and reading,” she said of her specialties.

   Luckstead works one-on-one with students who require a little more attention in the classroom, as well as with groups of students.

   “For three different periods, kids come to me,” she said of her schedule. “And during the other periods, I team-teach and help within the classroom.”

   Luckstead said it helps being in the classrooms so she knows what’s being presented or taught when the students come to her for that additional help.

   When Luckstead started teaching for the MCSD, she started out as an associate at Shannon Elementary School, and later moved to Carpenter Elementary.

   “I worked one-on-one with one particular student and switched to a program associate,” she recalled.

   Luckstead spent two school years inside the new Monticello Middle School, a welcome atmosphere from the older school building.

   In her 29 years with the district, she said the new school and technology have both been the biggest changes in her teaching career.

   “There haven’t been any big changes with my position,” noted Luckstead. “Here, though, I’m closer to the students (she serves) and the regular education classrooms. I feel more connected.”

   Not to mention, she has a nicer classroom and the school is air conditioned.

   “It was an easy transition,” Luckstead said of moving from one building to the other.

   This move, though, took place during a year of COVID. At the end of May 2020, middle school staff returned to the older building to pack up and move into the new school. This was after the school shut down in March due to the pandemic.

   “I like the new school,” praised Luckstead. “It’s very nice.”

   She was also fortunate enough to work in the same school district as her own kids.

   “It’s been good to work and live in town.”

   Luckstead has taught many kids in her almost-three decades here. Some of her earlier students now have kids in school.

   “I’ve taught a couple generations and many siblings,” she recalled.

   Luckstead said she’s proud to note that some students in her program have made such great gains in their education that they’ve been able to exist special education.

   “They’ve met their goals or just had one goal to work on,” she said.

   Luckstead credits former MCSD Curriculum Director, Gretchen Kriegel, with the support needed in assisting these students.

   Four years ago, Luckstead’s husband, Milt, retired from teaching at Cascade High School. At that time, she knew she had four more years before she could make the same decision.

   “When he retired, we looked at my time,” she said.

   Her years with the MCSD seemed to fly by, especially each year following Spring Break.

   “All of a sudden it’s May and we ask, ‘How did we get here?’”

   Luckstead plans to spend more time with her three grandkids in retirement, taking day trips, and helping her elderly father who lives in Anamosa.

   “I’ll miss the comradery with everybody here,” she said, “and seeing the students.”

   She said it’s been great to see how far her students have come from the beginning of the school year to the end.

   Kenzie Dietiker will be Luckstead’s replacement once the 2022-23 school year begins.

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