As Howard County students fled the school halls June 13, swapping their textbooks and homework planners for the sunscreen and insect repellent of summer vacation, many of their teachers also were departing for a long-term vacation of sorts -- retirement.

All told, 41 teachers in the Howard County Public School System retired at the end of this school year, schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said.

What follows are the stories of just two of those retiring teachers, who were original staff members at their respective schools: Chrystie Adams, a 37-year career teacher who finished her career at Elkridge Landing Middle School; and Myrna Pigo, a 42-year teaching veteran who spent the past 37 years at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia.

Tears begin to well in Chrystie Adams' eyes as she reminisces about her former students -- a girl who escaped a tough home life to become a successful psychologist, a boy who said music turned his life around after a flirtation with drugs, and so many others. Many of Adams' former pupils keep in touch with her and send her holiday cards, she said.

"You touch the future. You touch so many lives when you teach," Adams said. "Everywhere I go, I see people I used to teach."

Adams, 60, has taught general music and chorus at Elkridge Landing Middle School since the building opened in 1995. She is retiring after 37 years of teaching, including 29 years in Howard County and 26 years in Elkridge.

As a teacher, Adams said she felt strongly about providing a supportive and inclusive environment in her classroom.

"Sharing the joy of music with people has been a great joy for me," said Adams, a resident of Catonsville in Baltimore County.

Carol Jones, a physical education teacher who also has taught at Elkridge Landing since it opened, said she can't imagine the school without Adams.

"I'm so sad she's leaving," Jones said. "She is the heart and soul of the school, the rock of the school."

Valerie Lawrence, Elkridge Landing's orchestra director and also an original teacher at the school, said many of her colleagues looked to Adams as a leader and a role model.

"She's a master teacher," Lawrence said. "She's a very caring, nurturing person."

Adams plans to keep busy after leaving the classroom behind. She said she will spend more time with her 90-year-old mother and her daughter, who is graduating from college next year and plans to become a teacher.

She also plans to work part-time with the Maryland Music Educators Association, a professional association for school music teachers, and continue to volunteer at her church. In October, Adams is treating herself to a new experience -- a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

"I'll be busy," Adams said with a laugh.

The 'last original'

Myrna Pigo was there from the very beginning.

After starting her career teaching for five years in Connecticut and Illinois, she joined the staff of Wilde Lake High School in the budding town of Columbia in 1971.

At that time, the Wilde Lake school building was characterized by a unique open space concept that she saw come and go along with the original building, which was replaced in 1996.

This school year, Pigo, 65, was the only founding staffer teaching at the school. She is the last original, and now she is retiring.

"I love it. I really, really love it," Pigo said of teaching. "It's a difficult thing for me to leave. ... You have to sometimes take risks and leave what you love."

Through the years, Pigo has taught a variety of subjects at Wilde Lake, including Russian, psychology and English for non-native speakers. The one subject she has always taught at the school, year in and year out, was German, earning her the nickname of "Frau" (German for missus) from both students and teachers.

Marcia Leonard, principal of Atholton High School, started her career as a teacher 14 years ago at Wilde Lake High, where Pigo was her department chair. Leonard said Pigo, whom she calls the "last original Wilde Laker," was always there to offer support to students and teachers.

"She is the most student-oriented teacher you could imagine," Leonard said, adding that Pigo held her students to very high standards while being emotionally supportive at the same time.

For Pigo, teaching has never been a job; rather, she views it as a "fun time." Ever since she could remember, Pigo wanted to be a teacher. As a child, she often would hold class for her dolls.

She said she relishes working with her students and seeing them grow as individuals. Those students, in turn, have helped Pigo grow as well, she said.

"Our interactions have made me who I am," she said. "I've stayed young and been on a journey that allowed me to be the best I can be."

Brian Hayek, 49, attended the eighth through 12th grades at Wilde Lake when it was a new school and had Pigo as a homeroom teacher for four years and as a German teacher for three years. Hayek, who now is a creative director for an advertising agency, said he writes Christmas cards to Pigo every year and credits her for helping him excel at Wilde Lake. He even included the phrase "Thanks, Frau!" next to his yearbook photo.

"She gave me a lot of tough love," Hayek said. "She made a difference in my life."

One thing Pigo, a resident of Kings Contrivance, said she won't miss is the rigid schedule that is part of a teacher's life. She said she plans to take vacations with her husband and go sailing during her retirement.

"I think it's time to stop and smell the flowers for a bit," she said. " ... It should be fun. I just have to get over my sadness for leaving here."

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