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2O2 4 – 2O2 5 GU I D E to Y E L LOW S P R I NG S 7 to integrate restorative justice into her judicial practices stems from her lifelong love affair with history and progres - sive social movements. She comes by her politics honestly. Her father was one of the few Democrats in Hancock County, Ohio, so when Conine was growing up, the conversa- tions around the family dinner table were often lively. “My dad was a lone blue dot in a sea of red,” Conine said. “Now, doesn’t that sound familiar?” She later received her first degree in education with a social studies emphasis from Miami University and began her career as a teacher in Piqua, where she taught for five years. When a friend convinced Conine to move to Yellow Springs — a place more in line with Conine’s ideals — she soon found work at Morgan Middle School. Former Superintendent Ed McKinney hired her as a special education instructor, a position Conine would hold for the next 30 years. “I’ve known since second grade I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “The act of going to school, of learning, of being in community with other students and eventually other teachers — I love it all.” This community-minded outlook coursed through much of Conine’s curricula and career. Time and again, she would break the confines of the classroom and take her students into the community for hands-on lessons. “Back in the day, we could load the kids in this little blue van and take them wherever. Can you even imagine that now?” Conine laughed. Conine remembered fondly taking her students to The Riding Center to participate in the center’s weekly thera- peutic horse riding program. Each lesson would be oriented around horses. Math, history, literature, science — all of it would be tailored to the horses her students could see and touch. In the fall, Conine would work with her special educa- tion classes to create the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. She’d work with her students to plan elaborate menus and, once they landed on the best ingredients and set a budget, she’d again whisk them beyond the classroom walls. To Weaver’s they’d go. “We even learned how to make pumpkin pies from scratch,” Conine said. “The farmer on the edge of town would let us pick our own pumpkins from his field. The kids loved that.” Then, in the 1990s, con- ventional pedagogy started shifting. Whereas before, special needs students would be pulled out of general education classrooms, state and national standards told educators to reintegrate their classrooms with students of all levels and needs. “The inclusion was great,” Conine said. “Our community was growing.” Although she eventually retired from McKinney Middle School in 2009 — after passing through the lives of hundreds upon hundreds of middle schoolers — Conine couldn’t stay away from the classroom. She soon began adjuncting at Antioch University Midwest. “It was always a goal of mine to teach college, but I could never pry myself away from middle school, if you can believe that,” she said. “But after six years at AUM, I finally drew the line and stepped away.” It was hard for Mayor Pam to say that she missed teach- ing because she never fully stopped. She recently started having weekly meetings with a local third-grader to work on his literacy skills. “I can’t say no to that,” Conine said. “In a sense, that’s what I was elected to do.” ♦ 114 Xenia Ave.,Yellow Springs (937) 245-4242 Connect with the land. See what grows. WWW.AGRARIACENTER.ORG 937-767-2161 • INFO@AGRARIACENTER.ORG 131 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd. Yellow Springs, OH 45387 AGRARIA is a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the health of our soil, the diversity of our ecosystems and the resilience of our communities. We encourage practices that regenerate and enrich healthy ecosystems both above and below the ground. COME LEARN MORE! Visit our farm. Attend a workshop. Volunteer.