Marcia Monroe Sheffels is devoted to education.

Sheffels, 69, will retire after nine years as Flathead County Superintendent when her term ends at the end of the year. Her retirement caps a 47-year career in education.

“There is nothing more important than educating our young,” Sheffels said.

The thoughtful and thorough answers Sheffels gave during an interview on Oct. 17 makes it easy to guess her background as an English teacher. In addition to English, Sheffels taught Spanish. At different points in her career, she has taught at the middle school, high school and college level in Missoula, Great Falls and Columbia Falls.

Sheffels had an inclination for teaching at a young age. As a toddler she chose to play “school” with her dolls rather than “house.” Her mother, who had a short career as a teacher, may have had an influence.

“I’m not sure if there was some osmosis there between her love of education and my playing school with my dolls, but it never went away,” Sheffels said, smiling.

As a young student she was in awe of her teachers. Whether she loved or disliked a teacher, each made his or her impact. Sheffels said she still remembers the names of her teachers.

“The many, many writers and researchers in education saying it all starts with the teacher — I believe that totally,” Sheffels said.

A Montana native, Sheffels moved to Whitefish in third grade. Her parents purchased property on Whitefish Lake and built a house. In the 1950s Sheffels said it was cheaper to build on the lake than in town.

“My family was a hardworking blue-collar family,” she said.

Today, Sheffels resides on the property and has worked hard to maintain it for her extended family to enjoy.

Being a lifetime Montana resident hasn’t kept Sheffels in one spot, however. Frequent family vacations — whether camping nearby on a weekend or traveling to Mexico — broadened her horizons and instilled a desire to travel as an adult.

“We were always adventuring,” Sheffels said. “I had an aunt and uncle and cousins who lived in California and every time we visited them we would drive across the border.”

Trips to Mexico motivated her to minor in Spanish at the University of Montana, where she majored in English.

“The mechanics of two languages was very interesting to me. As a consequence, I think I became a better English student,” she reflected.

Sheffels returned to Latin America the summer of her senior year of college in 1967 to study and live with a family in Mexico City.

“I had a wonderful time,” Sheffels said. “I kept in connection with that family for a number of years.”

The experience touched her on a personal level as much as an educational one. Although she stayed with a well-off family, Sheffels saw poverty in the Mexican countryside, away from tourist areas, where families begged for food and children used litter as toys.

“I gained a feeling of humbleness that’s never left me,” Sheffels said.

When Sheffels took her first teaching job at Sentinel High School in Missoula she wanted her Spanish students to have the same traveling opportunity and began organizing a student trip abroad, which was quite a feat at the time.

“It’s very common now to travel with students to other countries. It wasn’t back then,” she said.

With spirited determination Sheffels planned the summer trip on her own, obtaining necessities such as legal counsel and insurance. She then researched other student international traveling groups to meet up with in Mexico.

“I was a little nervous. When I reflect on it I think, was I insane to do that? At that time I was excited. The culture is colorful; it’s dramatic,” Sheffels said. “I wanted students to realize they are representatives of a great country, the United States, but I was also very interested in them forming relationships and connections with the culture they were studying.”

The trip was a success and she continued to take students abroad either to Mexico or Spain every other year for the next 10 years.

In 1985, Sheffels moved to Great Falls, where her career evolved. She was frequently asked to work with student teachers in her classroom because she excelled at this type of work. She became a full-time student teacher field supervisor and taught a methods course for the University of Montana and Montana State University from 1985 until 1996. Evaluating and observing student teachers from kindergarten through 12th-grade provided enlightening experiences.

“I probably worked with 120 to 140 student teachers total in the time that I supervised. That put me into almost 500 different classrooms for observations and that was a huge education for me,” Sheffels said.

In 1995 she returned to the family property on Whitefish Lake and was tasked with whether or not to sell it.

“After thinking of the pros and cons it became clear to me I would like to maintain that place so the future generations could enjoy family get-togethers and family time just as I had done on a very precious little piece of land that’s our paradise,” Sheffels said.

In 1996 she once again returned to the classroom. She took a job as a middle school Spanish teacher in the Columbia Falls School District.

“It was to be just a one-year commitment but extended into nine years,” Sheffels said. “My goodness, I just became rejuvenated with those youngsters.”

In 2005 she embarked on a new educational endeavor. Sheffels applied for, and was appointed as the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools for a year following the midterm retirement of Donna Maddux in 2005.

“I thought it may be a way to extend my passion for education just in another way. I began a totally new phase of education,” Sheffels said as her face lit up.

In the 2006 election she ran her first successful campaign to retain the position, running opposed in the primary and unopposed in the general election. She ran again unopposed in 2010. This election year, Sheffels choose not to run.

“When I take on a job it’s 150 percent,” Sheffels said. “A year ago last fall I had a health issue that put me on the road to self doubt whether I would be able to live up to my own work expectations for four more years and that would not be fair to the taxpayers who have been very supportive.”

Saying good-bye to her team — Administrative Assistant Mary Juntunen and Accounting Technician Cheryl Morgan, taxpayers and the teachers and administrators throughout the 23 school districts the office oversees is bittersweet, Sheffels said.

“The sweet part, of course, is more time for family and friends and secondly I’m excited to become a tourist in my own valley because I’ve traveled everywhere I’ve wanted to travel,” Sheffels said.

Sheffels looks forward to the summer and winters ahead, skiing, fishing, hiking, canoeing, boating, paddleboarding and remodeling her home to better accommodate visits from her son, three stepchildren and two grandchildren.

Her passion for education won’t extinguish in retirement, Sheffels assured. She has viewed the school system from the vantage point of parent, teacher, county superintendent of schools and grandparent.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get school and education out of my blood,” Sheffels said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.