Patrick Furey retiring from Colfax school district
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Patrick Furey
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — After two and a half decades as a math and science teacher at Colfax High School and Colfax Middle School, Patrick Furey is retiring.
As if hunting, fishing and a variety of community service projects were not enough to keep him busy, Furey is planning to work full time after his retirement becomes official on June 30.
“My retirement will be filled with traveling, hunting, fishing and geocaching. I have a brother in Montana that has been begging me for years to come out elk hunting, so maybe this fall or next?” he said.
In addition to the leisure activities, Furey will spend a certain amount of his time on community service.
“My biggest goal in retirement is to have a life of community service. I have been in Lions for several years, and I have always wanted to go on a Lions Mission trip. But unfortunately they are always scheduled in the winter/spring when school is in session, so I have not been able to go,” he said.
“I also want to do mission work with my church both in and out of the country. Locally I am excited about spending time doing Lions vision screening, helping at Feed My People Food Bank, and doing bed builds and installs with Sleep In Heavenly Peace,” Furey said.
“But all of these retirement plans will have to share their time with my new job. Starting in July, I will be working full-time at a medical manufacturing company in Menomonie,” he said.
Cloquet
Furey is the youngest of James and Clarice Furey’s six children. He was born and raised in Cloquet, Minnesota, and graduated from Cloquet Senior High School in 1983.
He attended the University of Minnesota at Duluth for two years and then transferred to North Dakota State University in Fargo.
He graduated from North Dakota State in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in general science education and a minor in mathematics. He earned a master’s degree in environmental education from UW-Stevens Point in 2003.
Furey taught math and science in Necedah for six years and taught environmental and outdoor education for one year at Camp Courage in Maple Lake, Minnesota.
He began teaching in Colfax in the fall of 1996.
“I have taught for 26 years in Colfax. During that time, I have taught General Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1A and 1B, 7th and 8th grade Environmental Science, Physical Science, Physics, Advanced Physics, Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry and College Prep Chemistry, he said, adding, “I have also helped as a track timer, pole vault official, boys’ and girls’ basketball bookkeeper, and football scoreboard operator.”
Solving puzzles
Furey said he became a teacher because loves working with kids.
Having some time off in the summer didn’t hurt either.
“I chose the areas of math and science because I really enjoyed investigating and exploring the world around me and solving puzzles. I still enjoy solving math problems and watching nature, the weather and the night sky,” he said.
Colfax, Furey said, is a school district that respects the professionalism of the teachers who have been hired.
“What I’ve liked about teaching in Colfax is the trust factor. They hired me to do a job, teach the children, and they have given me the space and freedom to teach how I would like,” he said.
“As long as I am teaching good content and material, they have not hovered over me and micromanaged my classroom. It is wonderful that they realize that we are all professionals and that we will do what it takes to get the job done, to educate the kids,” Furey said.
Highs and lows
Serving for nearly 35 years as an educator is bound to result in both resounding success and inescapable sorrow.
“In my 33 years of education, I’ve had a lot of highs and lows. The highs have included seeing the pride in a student’s face when they ‘ace’ a test that they studied hard for. Or when a student tells you that they have never earned this high of a grade before in a math or science class,” Furey said.
“I have also enjoyed the hundreds of sporting events over the years including trips to the state tournaments. And I take great pride in knowing that I was named the ‘2017 Outstanding Teacher of the Year’ for Colfax, as presented by the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
But along with all of the good produced by the hard work of outstanding teachers comes the bad over which they have no control.
“The lowest of the lows was losing three students from my classroom, two from Colfax and one from Necedah,” Furey said.
“It was so hard attending their funerals and then to see their empty desk the next day at school. That is by far the hardest part of being a teacher,” he said.
Go Vikings!
And what will Furey miss the most?
“The thing that I will miss the most about teaching is the relationships that I have created over the years with my students. I will miss the conversations that we always have at the beginning of class each day. I’ll miss the hunting and fishing stories and all of the grief the students, staff and administration gave me during the football season. Go Vikings!” he said.
Furey also would like everyone to know that he has appreciated their support.
