My favorite recipes

Big changes are in the wind at Benge, where two long-time teachers are retiring this spring. Mary Ault has spent 43 years and Marcia Honn has spent 25 years in the small school, and they dearly love the community and their students. Also retiring is part-time PE teacher, Karen Baumann, who has driven from Washtucna for 25 years.

The last day of school is June 6. The community will honor their retiring educators at an open house on June 8 from 2 to 5 p.m., followed by a potluck dinner. Mary and Marcia would have been fine with no fanfare, but their friends and students have insisted.

Mary Ault, who lives in the house by the school, serves as the district administrator, a position she will continue part-time after her retirement from teaching. A graduate of Gonzaga University, she majored in English. She and her husband, Bryce, who retired from teaching at LaCrosse, will stay put in Benge for now. Their son, Brian, 22, is in Spokane.

Marcia Honn graduated from Eastern Washington University with a major in child development and a minor in reading.

“I’ve had the best job I could have had. There is so much parental support. The kids love coming to school.”

Bruce and Marcia have two daughters, Shannon and Natalie, and four grandchildren. Bruce will continue farming near Benge, as he has for the last 40 years, and she plans to substitute teach at Benge. Natalie and her husband reside on the family farm.

Working in such a small school gives room for lots of flexibility; indeed, it requires flexibility in a teacher. A huge positive is the many special events that they have organized for the students, including a tour of the fair each fall in Ritzville, a Pumpkin Patch visit to the Tri-Cities, a Halloween Carnival, Veterans Day in Washtucna, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Winter Concert, an Earth Day trash pick-up, two plays each year in Spokane and an Easter egg hunt.

A children’s author from Richland came four years ago to visit and work with the students and has asked to come each year since then. The day the photo was taken, she had spent the day working with the students to prepare a book of stories and act them out, complete with costumes.

Mrs. Ault and Mrs. Honn enjoy teaching their students for seven years and knowing their siblings. Marcia teaches reading, language arts, and art, and Mary teaches the math, science, social studies, and art, so they see the development of their students from kindergarten through sixth grade. Big city schools are touting the benefits of “looping,” teaching the same students for two or more years, but it comes naturally in a very small school. When their students are adults, they see them come back to Benge for weddings, funerals and special school events.

Students from Ritzville and Lind frequently choose into the Benge School, and they normally go to middle school in Lind and then to Ritzville High School. Many of the families out of district who choose to come to Benge do so for the small school experience.

The big challenges coming in education are also coming to Benge, namely the core curriculum standards and more computerized testing. Unlike large districts, Benge has no curriculum director to wade through the regulations and choose materials that match the core standards; it is the job of the teachers. At least they are past the days of the long hours spent doing WASL testing on young children. The Benge teachers, as well as the cooks and bus drivers, do the counseling and mentoring, too.

Benge has already hired teachers who will attempt to fill the shoes of Mrs. Ault and Mrs. Honn next fall. Bob Moore has taught in Ritzville, and Janet Morgan, from Malden, has taught special education part-time in Benge. Their part-time music teacher, Karyn Allen, will continue to come from Washtucna to teach.

Recipes:

Layered Salad

Mary Ault

1 cup small macaroni shells

4 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas, thawed

1 small red onion, halved, sliced crosswise, and separated into rings

1/2 pound cooked ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (2 cups)

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese (s ounces)

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons snipped fresh dill or 1 1/2 teaspoons dillweed

2 hard-cooked eggs, cut into wedges

Cook, drain, and cool macaroni shells to room temperature.

Place lettuce in an even layer in the bottom of a 3-quart glass bowl. Cover with a layer of macaroni, then the peas, onion, and ham. Sprinkle the top with Swiss cheese.

Combine the mayonnaise and dill in a small bowl. Mound the dressing in the center of the salad. Arrange the egg wedges around the dressing with plastic wrap. Chill for several hours.

Just before serving, toss well to coat.

Banana Bread

Marcia Honn

2 or 3 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Wesson oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon soda

2 cups bananas (mashed, takes 3 large)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat eggs well and gradually add sugar. Continue beating and add oil slowly.

Mix dry ingredients into egg batter and add mashed bananas and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes; one hour if a large loaf. Makes 1 large bread pan loaf or 3 small aluminum pans.

This recipe is from Zelda Hubbard—Nona Camp in the LaCrosse United Methodist Women’s cookbook. I use it all the time and have passed it on to many people.

Play Dough

Marcia Honn

Heat to boil 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup salt.

Add 2 teaspoons alum, 2 Tablespoons salad oil, and food coloring.

Lastly, add 2 cups flour.

Let set for an hour and have fun with it.