Jon Mauch

Jon Mauch - Technology Coordinator - Madeira City Schools Employee 1972 - 2007

At Mt. Rainier

HS Newspaper Article May 2007 - Picture from that article

Retirement Gift from Jeff Corn with signatures from staff

Jan Mauch - Speech / Language Therapist at Madeira & St.Gertrude School 1982 - 2007

Retirement Painting made with thumbprints of students / Poem from Sue Cunningham lined with thumbprints of staff

Retiring Teacher Spotlight
Mr. Mauch

What is your full name?
Mr.Mauch: My first name is Jon – short for Jonathan.

When is your birthday?
Mr. Mauch: Once a year, no matter if I am ready for it or not.

Any crazy hobbies we should know about?
Mr. Mauch: I enjoy long driving trips, especially to areas in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. I hope to have more time for that and other trips.

You’re not seen much around school. What do you do all day?
Mr. Mauch: Much of the day I can be found in my office, which is between Mr. Phelp’s and Ms. Speellman’s rooms. It is very quiet there and I do not even have a speaker to tell me what is happening in the building. Of course, I have never complained about the lack of a speaker. I do have duties at all school buildings and I suppose the fact that you do not see me is a good thing – it means that most technology is working fairly well. My duties include oversight of: student data (preschool through graduation - demographic data, schedules, grades, transcripts), phones and the phone network, the rest of the network (the wiring and equipment to allow computers and phones to see all the devices in all the school buildings and the Internet), nine network servers, email accounts, listservers, ProgressBook, Internet filtering, purchasing computers, printers, repair parts, and other items of technology. I often have to do work at times when no one is using the network, since what I would do would disrupt it. This means that I often shift my working hours to include early or late weekend days, and late weekday hours. When someone asks what I will do on a particular day, I do not always have an answer – the day sort of takes control – I have to adjust to the problems that people present to me as they happen.

How long have you been at Madeira?
Mr. Mauch: I started teaching in the fall of 1972 as a 8th grade science teacher. I next taught junior high mathematics, then computer programming and finally physics. The last 10 or 15 years have been devoted to supporting the technology in the district. When I started teaching, I thought I would work 30 years and then retire. It will be 35 years this summer and it is time to enjoy other things.

What did you do before you came to Madeira?
Mr. Mauch: I started teaching right after college. My other work in summers and weekends involved working for the YMCA. On weekends, I worked at Williams YMCA in Walnut Hills and in the summers I worked at Camp Meacham (in Kentucky along the river – no longer there) and then at Camp Simms in Milford (also no longer there.)

What do you intend to do with your time after you retire?
Mr. Mauch: My wife and I would like to spend some of our time in travel. In the past, I have always had to have my school cell phone or computer along in case something stopped working or someone needed something done. It will be nice not to have that responsibility during a vacation trip. It will be nice to sit with my cup of coffee in the morning and watch the school buses go by and know I don’t have to be at work.

What is your favorite memory from Madeira?
Mr. Mauch: I look back on the time I actually taught in the classroom and remember the direct contact with students and parents. They were not always the easiest of times but they were the most rewarding. I often wonder if I made the right personal choice to become so heavily entrenched in the technology area.

I assume you have heard a lot over the years, which in a sense gives you some power. How does it feel?
Mr. Mauch: I often come into contact with things that may enter into an area of privacy and I handle those areas with a great sense of responsibility. I have very little trouble forgetting things that I should not retain. There is also the fact that most of the people I have interacted with are no longer here.

There’s a rumor that you’re going to shut down the entire system before you leave. Is this true?
Mr. Mauch: It is my strongest desire to have my departure occur without notice. I want every part of my job to continue without any problems for the next person. The fact that you asked what I do all day means that I must be doing things fairly well. The last thing I want next August or October is a phone call that starts, “Jon, how do we…. “. I will know I departed well if no one knows that I have gone.