Teaching Tunisons get ready to call it a career

Mark Tunison has taught for 31 years and Judith Tunison for 23 years at Hanford High School.

But on June 5, Judi and Mark will take a last glance around the campus and retire together.

"I'm gonna miss the kids," Mark said. "It feels like this is just another summer vacation."

Judi is quick to add that she doesn't think it has really hit home for the two of them.

"This graduation on June 5 is literally the last look for us as teachers at Hanford High," she said.

Mark teaches pottery at the school, Judi teaches AP Government and Civics.

Cheryl Hunt, Hanford High School principal, will miss the Tunisons.

"Judi will be greatly missed, but she has earned her retirement," Hunt said. "She has always been a strong advocate for students and a leader among our teachers. Judi has a great talent for helping kids connect the classroom to the real world."

Hunt shares light on Mark Tunison as a veteran teacher at the school.

"Mark's creative nature and ability to connect with the students is amazing," Hunt said. "He has devoted his life to assisting students in appreciating the arts and understanding how they can find their own creative spark. He's an amazing teacher who will be missed tremendously."

The husband and wife team came to Hanford in 1977 when Mark was offered a teaching position.

Their 38-year-marriage has produced a daughter (Amy, 32) and twin sons (Adam and Christopher, 29). They also have a 6-year-old grandson, Sam.

"Hanford has been good to us," Mark said. "We were very happy here at Hanford High."

"Pottery is a nice thing to teach for me," Mark said. "It's a passion as well as my profession.

Mark, 60, said the pottery class adds to his students lives.

"There are lessons that students learn that don't have anything to do with pottery," Mark said. "They learn the social skills of how to work with a large group and still make progress everyday."

Some students refer to Judi and Mark by the nickname of Tune, Mrs. T, or Mr. T.

Mrs. T, as she is sometimes called by some of her students, wants her students to be armed with understanding goverment and the economy because she knows these are the two areas that will hit students immediately after graduation.

"I want my students to understand the law and how it affects them," said Judi.

It took Judi a moment to find her calling as a teacher, having worked as a library assistant as well as with the welfare department. She has taught special education as well as substitute teaching.

"I didn't know that I wanted to teach," she said. "I don't make up my mind about anything right away."

The Tunisons taught in Australia from 1974-1977 for the adventure.

It's there that Judi's interest in teaching began. She began at HHS in 1986.

She was advisor to Youth and Goverment Club for seven years, from 1991-98.

It was her daughter who helped Judi find her passion.

Amy, 15-year-old student at Hanford High at the time, convinced her mom to come assist the Youth and Government Club on HHS campus at the time. Youth and Government Club is now affliated only through YMCA.

"I love Youth and Government," Judi said. "It made me a much better teacher ... I didn't know that I had such a passion for government until I started teaching it.

"Youth and Government really sparked so much in me," Judi said. "It inspired me to do more."

Judi, 60, has done a selected terrorism camp, taught overseas, and been involved with congress in the classroom.

"Everything that I've done," Judi said. "I've been able to bring back all this good material."

Student Robert Lee is thrilled to have Judi as a teacher before she retires.

"I can't imagine having another teacher for government," Lee said. I'm so glad I had Mrs. Tunison..."

One thing that impresses this senior with Judi's class is the specifics she focuses on.

"I think it's amazing what she teaches us in a year," Lee said. "She does a great job of breaking it down."

Sophomore Marlee Kenney said she will miss Mark Tunison's pottery class.

"It will be weird to not have Mr. Tunison here," Kenney said. "He's been here for so long."

Alex Rodriguez, a junior, is contemplating whether he will take the pottery class next year.

"I may not take the class next year because Mr. T is leaving," Rodriguez said. "I come here to kick back."

Junior Cougar Williams, who made a food preserver in his pottery class, echoed the fondness for his teacher.

"Mark is an expert on everything," Williams said. "We are going to miss him."

Mark taught English in the Navy for a year, knowing early on that he wanted to be an educator.

I've always been interested in art," Mark said. "I've always made sure that I took art."

What's next for the Tunisons after graduation on June 5?

"I know that we should have some kind of defined plan in mind," said Judi.

Mark plans to continue teaching his adult night school class he's had for the last 15 years.

As for Judi, she's interested in serving on Kings County's grand jury.

"I like knowing what's going on behind the scene of things," said Judi. So, this is a natural progression."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2423.

(May 10, 2008)