Long-time Brockton teacher gets dream sendoff into retirement

BROCKTON, Mass. — After a 25-year career, a Brockton physical education teacher got the sendoff she had dreamed of. Illness and loss forced Kathy Lyczynski to leave the job she loves sooner than she planned. On Monday, the community rallied around her and sent her off in style.

Students and teachers lined the street leading to the Mary E. Baker Elementary School in Brockton for a very special arrival.

As the white stretch limousine turned the corner, the dream ride, a moment years in the making, came true.

When the limo approached, the crowd of adoring students went wild.

When Lyczynski stepped out of the limo, her face said it all.

You see, it was always her dream that when she retired, she’d arrive at school in a limo on her last day.

But sometimes life has other plans.

“She walked in my office about a month ago and said, ‘I guess there’ll be no limo for me.’ And that was that,” said principal Valerie Brower Foot.

Brower Foot says when Lyczynski’s husband got really sick she took a medical leave and ultimately retired early.

Lyczynski’s husband passed away last month. She assumed her big retirement plans were off.

“We said, there’ll be a limo,” said Brower Foot.

And so there was a limo, a sash and even a crown fit for a beloved member of this community.

“A lot of losses, but this makes it, this just makes up for everything,” Lyczynski said.

“She’s wonderful. She’s like their mom. She’s their mentor. She’s wonderful. She’ll be sorely missed, but her legacy will last forever,” said Brower Foot.

And this farewell should leave Lyczynski will little doubt of that.

“They’re all special. Every single one of them” Lyczynski said.

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