May 11, 2006

A class act

Esteemed Simonds principal Linda Kakes retires

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

At 5 years old, Linda Kakes started teaching. The youngster was surprised that a childhood friend a few years older didn’t know her alphabet and asked that Kakes teach her. By third grade, Kakes made the conscious decision. She would be a teacher.

Principal Linda Kakes always had time to have fun with her students. Left: Mari Renaldi, Kakes and Vruit Desai at pajama day last year.

Kakes grew up in Wisconsin the middle child in her family built from strong, solid Midwestern stock. She attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison where she met Jim, a year older and her future husband. He served in Viet Nam while Kakes finished her senior year. San Jose Unified School District was recruiting for educators and the young couple decided to move to the golden state. That began her 37-year tenure with SJUSD, all of which was spent in Almaden Valley where she has left a plethora of students, colleagues and friends.

“When she was my sixth grade teacher at Henderson, I remember her being very tall with long blonde hair,” said Almaden Times Executive Editor Julie Davis Berry. “She reminded me of a stewardess, which seemed like a very glamorous profession to me at the age of 11. She was very pretty and very young. Years later I ran into her and it was like running into an old friend. She is extremely warm and friendly and handles herself with such poise. She’s a class act all the way.”

Kakes taught fifth and sixth grade in Almaden for 17 years prior to becoming assistant principal for six years at Castillero Middle School. District 10 Councilmember Nancy Pyle also taught there and remembers working with Kakes.

“Linda has such versatility and she genuinely cares for her students, teachers and parents,” said Pyle. “She is a wonderful listener and works to correct any problems, really going to bat for people. She really is a star in the education community.”

Kakes moved to Almaden Valley 19 years ago and raised her two sons in the area. Kakes became principal of Randol Elementary School for eight years and then took the helm at Williams for three years. She met President Clinton in Washington, D.C. when Randol was honored as a Distinguished National Blue Ribbon School. Leaving each school was a difficult transition and presented a “mourning process” Kakes admits. And she remembers her students as cherished memories.

“I remember one student who I was told would be a challenge,” said Kakes. “I really liked him and asked for him to come back to my class the next year. Years later I ran into him and he said he was working with troubled youth. That’s what a teacher dreams of: making a difference in a student’s life.”

One year Kakes received a Christmas ornament from a student. For years she placed it on the family tree remembering the young girl who created the ceramic snowman. This past year, Pam McGill, the same student who made the treasured keepsake enrolled her daughter Courtney in kindergarten at Simonds.

Seems like old times playing in the playground. Back row: Danny Politoski, Pam McGill, Linda Kakes. Julie Davis Berry holding nephew Christian Davis, Nancy Cerone and Suzanne Baker. Front row: John Politoski, Phyllis Politoski, Courtney McGill, Michael Cerone and Danny Politoski. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“She did such a good job teaching me math,” remembers McGill. “I remember this cool football game she would play on the board. You would move the ball each time you had a correct answer. She made it fun and I learned football.”

Phyllis Politoski is a Simonds first and second teacher as well as a past student of Kakes at Henderson.

“She is such a great leader,” said Politoski. “She has a way of talking to the kids with respect and is very approachable and is always positive. There are rules but she gives the kids a chance to be heard. They feel that.”

At a recent impromptu reunion, classmates Politoski, husband John, Simonds teacher Suzanne Baker, Nancy Cerone, Berry and some of their children who now attend the school remembered their beloved teacher and now friend. They recalled the songs sung in Mrs. Kakes tenure at Henderson: “Little Bar Soap,” “Old Stewball,” “John B. Sloop” and “Drunken Sailor” and even joined in a melody or two from their childhood memories. Kakes modestly credits the other teachers as being musical and said “I’d be in the back making sure everyone behaved.”

But it’s not just Kakes’ past students who treasure Kakes.

“Linda is a gem!” said Simonds Music and Technology Foundation President Joy Spodick who first met Kakes when she became Simonds’ principal three years ago. “Not only has she led the school with an amazingly positive attitude but with focus, determination and grace as well. I will miss her input and guidance on the Simonds Foundation Board and we will most certainly miss her leadership here at Simonds. We wish her all the best in her retirement (we only wish it wasn’t so soon). She really is one of a kind.”

Kakes “great love” is the Simonds writers’ club. In the conference room, the young authors share their writing and discuss it afterward. She started the group 14 years ago while principal at Williams.

“I meet every child and they share what they write,” said Kakes. “It’s a great assessment tool and you can learn so much about the child.”

But it’s not just the young author sessions that Kakes enjoys.

An impromptu visit to a kindergartner class is always welcome to Principal Kakes.

“I adore these children,” said Kakes in her recent retirement announcement letter to parents and students. “The opportunity to watch their music performances, visit their classrooms, share their discoveries and observe them in the computer lab is a privilege and a delight.”

Kakes is equally respectful of Simonds’ parents and teachers.

“I love the daily interaction I have with you and am thrilled with your wonderful ideas, enthusiasm and dedication to our children,” Kakes continued in the letter. “No one has more fun at the auction, walk-a-thon, Bingo Night, science faire, multicultural faire and Art from the Heart events than I have.”

“The staff is the heart and soul of this school. These talented, hard-working people take my breath away with their creativity, devotion and caring. For them it’s not a job, it’s a calling. They take my breath away,” added Kakes.

And so after 37 years as an educator in Almaden, Kakes is retiring.

She looks forward to shutting off the 4:45 a.m. wake-up alarm and enjoying retirement with husband Jim who is also retiring. They plan to relax, travel and hang out with their two grown sons and their new daughter-in-law, when not cheering for the Packers and Sharks. She has thoughts about becoming a child advocate for the court system or mentoring student teachers. Whatever Kakes decides, she will bring out the best in her students as she did as a child teaching the A-B-Cs to her young friend.

“Linda is always sparkling with energy,” said SJUSD Superintendent Don Iglesias. “She’s energetic and enthusiastic and always looks at the upside of life. I tell her she is still a youngster and shouldn’t leave. It’s a major loss for
SJUSD but also for the community. She will be missed.”

As Linda Kakes enters the second act of a life well lived, I questioned what she would most like to be remembered for.

“That I really gave it my best,” said Kakes. “And that I made a difference.”