Cadman leaves a lasting legacy

As she sits at her desk in the college and career center Carrie Cadman takes in every last moment before her last day, June 4.

Cadman attended Stetson University and earned her degree in education. She decided to go down the path of teaching because of her 11th grade American history teacher.

“[He] helped me to see I have a lot of talents and capabilities,” Cadman said.

Cadman took this love of teaching and started working 45 years ago at Colonial High School in the social studies department. For five years she taught the required history classes such as American history and Communism versus Realism.

“I decided I wanted to teach a class the students didn’t have to take, but wanted to take,” Cadman said.

So she taught Psychology (1, 2, dual enrollment at Valencia and Advanced Placement). But after 21 years Colonial started to change and Cadman left.

“Students were more concerned with getting their core classes not electives so the psychology program went away and I would have had to teach history again,” Cadman said.

After Cadman left Colonial and “retired” from teaching she went to work at a law office as a clerk. But the atmosphere was different than she expected and decided it was not for her.

“I did something I’d never done before–quit. I put a note on [my boss’s] chair and left. I walked out and never came back,” Cadman said.

After Cadman left the law office she was upset and didn’t know what to do.

“I went home and cried because I have never quit a job and my daughter said ‘mom school is what you know best, go back’,” Cadman said.

Cadman then worked at University High School for three years as a clerk and did the payroll and organized the substitutes. But the school was too far from home so she looked for a job closer to where she lived and saw an opening at Boone.

For seven years Cadman worked as a clerk in the main office before she retired for a second time to take care of her sick husband.

“[It was] hard to go from being a teacher to going to the bottom. But I had the adjustment because I always wanted to help people and I was still helping students and parents,” Cadman said.

When Cadman’s husband passed away 10 years ago she was at a loss and didn’t know what to do with herself.

“I was in a daze and out of it. I needed something to do,” Cadman said.

Shortly after her husband died, Cadman came back to Boone to take care of paperwork for her niece. Assistant principal Dr. John Harris said there was an opening and she was welcome to take it.

“He said he had a job just for me and it was great because I needed something to do. [Boone] was the perfect place for me,” Cadman said.

When Cadman returned to Boone she started the College and Careers Center and had free reign on how to develop it.

“The best thing was the freedom to put it together [the way] I felt it met the students needs,” Cadman said.

She has since worked in the College and Careers Center for nine years and enjoys every bit of it.

“[It is] a wonderful opportunity to help kids and parents, and is just about as gratifying as teaching,” Cadman said.

After 45 years of working in the Orange County Public Schools system, Cadman is retiring to spend time with her children and grandchildren.

“[My] three kids begged me to retire to spend time with them while I have the chance because I was always working when they were little,” Cadman said.

However, Cadman is not quite sure how she will spend all of her free time being she hasn’t had this much time off since she was a young adult.

“[I’ll probably] stand in the middle of the room and wait for someone to tell me what to do. I am wide open to anything. I may even end up teaching somewhere else,” Cadman said.