POST FALLS — In Mary Pattis' third-grade class at Treaty Rock Elementary School, students have been learning about the science and architecture of different bridges.

They've also been learning about birds and how to be kind to others.

"She is very kind," third grader Jordan Ontiveros said May 26. "She's a very nice teacher."

Pattis, 67, is in her 21st and final year of teaching. As retirement approaches, she's feeling some mixed emotions.

"I love what I do," she said, seated at her desk while her students were away in art class. "The joke is school is my hobby."

Pattis loves learning and sharing that love with her students, whom she works to keep engaged in whatever she is teaching.

"There's times that I have tears," she said. "There are times when we go to a staff meeting and they're picking teachers for each classroom and my name's not on there."

Pattis has spent her entire teaching career in the Post Falls School District. She began her career at Seltice Elementary, where she taught second grade for three years. She then taught a split class of second and third grade students at Mullan Trail Elementary starting in 2009, and soon moved to third grade. When Treaty Rock opened at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, she moved schools and continued teaching third grade.

"That's the grade that I just love, and I've been there ever since," she said, smiling. "They get my jokes, and they know how to blow their own noses. They're a little bit more independent."

In more than two decades in the classroom, Pattis has taught nearly 500 students. But she wasn't always bound for education. After graduating from Coeur d'Alene High School, she immediately attended the University of Idaho and earned a degree in business. Pattis decided to go back to school when her husband, Jim, experienced health issues and their three children were young. Volunteering in her kids' classrooms led her to become an educator.

"I began as a parapro, and that's when I really started working with kids," she said.

The world of education has changed in the past 21 years.

"In the beginning, there was more time for active learning — fun learning, arts and crafts," she said.

A time squeeze has been felt since Post Falls changed to a four-day school week in the 2023-2024 school year, Pattis said.

"Now, with the four-day work week, it's just go, go, go," she said.

Student behaviors have changed in recent years, as well. Managing challenging behaviors takes time away from lessons and learning, Pattis said.

However, despite the challenges, there are numerous positives. Pattis smiled as she shared how she has introduced students to one of her favorite subjects: Birds.

"I integrated birdwatching in my classes," she said. "I was a part of a program called Bird by Bird, headquartered in Boise."

Through this program, Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo would stop by the classroom to share her avian expertise.

"Every time she came in, every year, I learned something new," Pattis said. "And kids remember those things. The kids will say, 'Mrs. Pattis, I saw a black-capped chickadee!'"

After the school year concludes, Pattis is looking forward to relaxing with family.

She will babysit her first grandbaby twice a week, "which is just perfect," she said. She and Jim will celebrate 41 years of marriage this year. 

Gardening and bird watching are other priorities.

"And crafts, I just love them," she said.

But, of course, "I'm going to miss the kids, because they're my kids," Pattis said. "This year I have 26 of them."

Treaty Rock will miss her just as much.

"I love that she brings her passions into her classroom and sparks that interest in children that they will pursue for a lifetime," Treaty Rock Principal Katrina Kramer said.

She said Pattis has built strong community connections in her time as a teacher.

"People come back and they love to visit with Mrs. Pattis, her former students will come back and visit with her," Kramer said. "The number of lives that she has touched in those 21 years, you can't even count it."

    Teacher, mentor and birder extraordinaire Mary Pattis, pictured Tuesday at her desk in her Treaty Rock Elementary classroom, will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year after 21 years of teaching in Post Falls.