FORT SIMPSON - When Madison Pilling was researching her Historica Fair project this year and needed a back issue of a magazine she knew exactly where to go.

Sharon Herring checks the contents of one of the kits she developed at the Dehcho Divisional Education Council's resource centre. After 34 years of teaching and working at the centre in Fort Simpson Herring has retired. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

At the resource centre for the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, Sharon Herring located a copy of the magazine right away.

"She keeps lots of good stuff," said Pilling, a Class 6 student at Bompas elementary school.

Students and teachers who are looking for resource and research material will now have to look to someone else. After 34 years of teaching and working at the resource centre in Fort Simpson, Herring is retiring.

Herring was honoured by her colleagues at a retirement dinner on June 12.

"Sharon's played so many roles over the years," said Nolan Swartzentruber, the superintendent of the council.

Swartzentruber said that Herring will be missed and difficult to replace.

"She's been a great asset to people in every school," he said.

Thanks to Herring's many and varied roles she will be remembered for a wide variety of activities.

"She's like the laminating and binding queen to help preserve student work," said Val Gendron, the Kindergarten teacher at Bompas elementary school.

Herring is also helpful if you need information on any subject, said Gendron, recalling one time Herring found her information on moose.

"If she can't help you she can point you in the right direction," Gendron said.

Pamela Waygood, a teacher at the Chief Julian Yendo school in Wrigley, said she'll remember the teddy bear hospitals that Herring did at the Trout Lake culture camps.

"She's always cheerful and happy," said Waygood.

In Kakisa, teacher Sheila Hilliard has appreciated receiving notices on all the new material that Herring collects at the resource centre.

"She's very up to date," said Hilliard.

Herring refers to her career as an "amazing adventure."

"It's an awesome life," said Herring.

Herring arrived in Fort Simpson in August 1973 with her husband John and their family.

She immediately started work and taught everything from Kindergarten to Grade 9 at Thomas Simpson school. Herring had no official training in teaching but had previously taught in Alberta and British Columbia.

"I guess I really enjoyed teaching," she said.

Music instruction was part of Herring's expertise. She has taught students everything from singing to piano to recorder to omnichord to accordion. One time she learned how to play the violin in two weeks to fulfill a teacher's request in Jean Marie River to have the students learn the instrument.

"They love it," said Herring.

Herring also helped organize musicals with the whole school. Work on the spring concerts would start as soon as the Christmas one was over.

A memorable production was The Little Engine that Could. Children dressed up as the characters and there was an elaborate set including large boxes painted to look like mountains.

"It was to cry for, it was so beautiful," she said.

In 1987 Herring started to work part-time in the resource centre and by 1989 had a permanent position there.

Herring expanded the centre and started to create education curriculum kits that could be sent to the smaller communities whose schools didn't have a lot of resources.

She has now worked on more than 100 kits and seen the centre expand approximately 10 times its original size. Herring has no trouble keeping tabs on all the resources.

"Everything is catalogued in my mind," she said.

Working in the resource centre involves a variety of tasks including laminating and binding.

Herring said she laminated by the kilometre, covering everything from posters to students' work. She's been asked to laminate some odd things including plants and buttons but has to create protective covers instead because the material can't go through the laminating machine.

"I think everyone thinks you can laminate anything," said Herring with a smile.

Her last day of work was June 22.

"When you can help students and teachers with ideas that spark interesting learning in the whole region it's the most wonderful gift you can give," she said.