Over 38 years, Marilyn Pleasant has worn a lot of hats in the Lisbon Community School District, including kindergarten teacher, cheerleading coach, first grade teacher, speech coach, and instructional coach for preschool through sixth grade teachers.

Pleasant knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher.

“I always played school when I was little, and I would say, probably, by middle school for sure, I decided I wanted to be a teacher,” Pleasant said. Once she made that decision, she never turned back.

Pleasant attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. There, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After completing her degrees, Pleasant went on to teach in Texas.

“I taught kindergarten and special education. Just a year each, and then we moved to Iowa,” Pleasant explained, “and when we moved here, there were no openings. I got here two weeks before school started, so I substituted for two years, and I actually started my substituting on the first day of school in Mount Vernon, in sixth and seventh grade English, which was way out of my comfort zone. […] That substituting was awesome, because I got to go in so many different classrooms and see a lot of different things.”

Once she got to Lisbon, Pleasant began teaching as a kindergarten teacher. She maintained that role for nine years, while also being the cheerleading coach, which she held for 10 years. Once she moved from kindergarten to first grade, she kept that role for 19 years. During those 19 years, she also found the time to coach speech for 12 of them. For the last 10 years, she has been the instructional coach for preschool through sixth grade teachers.

Throughout her 38 years at Lisbon Schools, Pleasant found that the most enjoyable thing was the people, and especially the kids.

“I’ve been so blessed as far as… we have good kids at our school, and every day, walking in, I feel so loved and blessed, every single day. I get, I don’t know how many hugs a day from kids,” Pleasant explained, “As I say, ‘find your passion, and you never work a day in your life.’ I’ve never worked. This is where I need to be. And the people are amazing.”

Having taught 100s of kids over the years, Pleasant has found it rewarding to see the generations of children that have gone through her classrooms.

“It was so funny on parent teacher nights. They would walk up, the parents would come in with kids, and I’d be like, ‘I taught that one, taught that one, oh that one over there, I taught that one.’ So, there’s tons of them that have kids here now that I taught. It was kind of cool,” Pleasant said.

Not only did Pleasant enjoy having children in her classroom, but also in her home. Pleasant and her husband spent nine-and-a-half years fostering children after their biological children had grown up and left their home.

In 2019, the Pleasants adopted another child into their family. At the time, they had one other foster child in their home, and once that child left, they decided to stop fostering.

However, in her retirement, Pleasant continues to continue helping within the foster care system in whatever way she can.

“They have a clothing closet, and they need volunteers to come in and either help to organize or work it. They have other volunteer opportunities at different events. And, so, I just want to go in and help with that. Maybe mentor for foster families,” Pleasant explained.

The foster care system will not be where Pleasant’s volunteering ends, however.

“That’s all I want to do. I don’t want to do anything for money. I want to volunteer,” Pleasant said. Alongside helping within the foster care system, Pleasant plans to volunteer at the Southeast Linn Community Center, at her church, and teaching junior achievement for the school. “I just want to do a time where I can give back.”

As a final parting message, Pleasant emphasized, “I just want people to know that you find your passion in life. That’s the big piece: find your passion, and you never work a day in your life. I mean, I’ve never dreaded getting up, like, ‘oh, today’s a workday.’ I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always been excited to come in.”