Ms. Kinser: 38 years at PHCS
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After 38 years of teaching multiple grades at Pleasant Hill Christian School, Mary Jo Kinser retired from full time classroom instruction in 2020. Ms. Kinser, with friend Janlyn Heath, founded PHCS in 1982, with 16 students, nine grades and one classroom (the rest of the building was being used for other purposes)! Before her time at PHCS, she had taught four years at the Christian Life Center in Santa Rosa.
In 2020, the Sebastopol Rotary Club presented Mary Jo with the “Career Service Teacher-of-the-Year” award. It is a well-deserved recognition of the hard work and dedication that it took to turn a historic 1909 schoolhouse into a school that continues to thrive four decades later. Her last year has been even more of an adventure than the previous forty! When she was looking to wind down her teaching, she had to ramp it up to “distance teach” and learn many new techniques. From that first year teaching in her self-described “Little House on the Prairie” school, Mary Jo has inspired a host of fellow teachers and staff to make the most of often-meager financial support while putting children and God first. This missionary attitude always shone through in her willingness to try new things and make the education fit the child. Often teaching multiple grades in one classroom, she juggled the spiritual needs of the students along with the academics. Mary Jo was a leader in fun and interesting teaching techniques, from outdoor education to National History Day. As she steps into a new season of retirement, please keep her in your prayers. She is excited about her future and continues to be supportive of this school in multiple ways! Mrs. See and the Board are actively planning for the 2020-21 school year and how the different classrooms will be arranged. PHCS has seen several teachers retire in the last decade and God has been so faithful in bringing new energetic teachers into our community. We look forward to the ways God will touch our school again! |
Mary Jo Kinser
Mary Jo has always loved missions work and traveling. During her college years, she spent several months living in West Berlin, Germany, and traveling in Europe. Recently, she has participated in several short-term missions trip into the Ukraine and Russia working with teachers from these countries. Besides teaching, Mary Jo enjoys reading, walking, and playing with her dog, Belle. Her life verse is from Psalm 84:11-12: "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." Mary Jo is an active member of the Occidental Community Church. |
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“Every year our prayer has been, ‘Lord, if you want PHCS to continue, then bring in the students, families you want here, and provide for the needs of the school.’ I never dreamed I would be there 38 years! But He has been faithful to the school and to me and I have always loved being a part of PHCS.” —Mary Jo Kinser “I have always been in awe of the way you put your heart into your teaching all these years. You not only made a huge difference, but also touched so many lives along the way. Guiding and inspiring your students as you taught them academics and to love the Lord, your faithfulness and desire to serve was always an example of God’s love for them. What a blessing it was to teach beside you 30+ years and to call you friend. ‘An awesome teacher is hard to find, difficult to part with and impossible to forget.’ —Sherry Dillon, longtime PHCS teacher “How does one adequately describe Mary Jo Kinser? What words can fully tell of the remarkable person she is? Master Teacher, Dedicated, Faithful, Dependable, Loyal, Trustworthy, Servant Heart, Lover of God. She has set the bar high. Thank you, Jo, for all you have given to PHCS, your students and countless others. I am honored to call you my dear friend.” —Sandi King, longtime PHCS principal “It has been my privilege to work with Mary Jo since 1982, when we started PHCS. She has always been a dedicated teacher who loves God and loves her students. She also has high standards, but knows how to create fun with them.” —Janlyn Heath, fellow founding teacher |