Dianne Mrazeck: Redefining retirement

Former assistant principal Dianne Mrazeck is redefining herself as she begins her retirement from the Cape Henlopen School District.

“I'm not sure I've defined retirement yet, but I'm working on it,” she said from her meticulously decorated home in a neighborhood off Oyster Rocks Road.

With 35 years of education experience under her belt, the petite brunette officially retired Sept. 1 and she now has her days to herself.

“There are so many things I wanted to do, that I'll be able to do now,” she said with an easy smile while she enjoyed her first cup of coffee of the day.

Keeping up with the morning news is one change in her morning routine, something she was unable to do as assistant principal at Beacon Middle School over the past five years and four years prior as assistant principal at Cape High. Both jobs had her up and at school before most national programs began.

“I'm still not used to the morning,” she said. “Once I get past that 7 o'clock hour, I'm good.”

She can also take part in a yoga class to keep herself fit – she won't devulge how old she is although she still looks like she's in her 20s and she is just as young at heart.

But it's a chance to spend more time antiquing that she said she is really looking forward to.

It's a passion readily visible when one walks into her home decorated room-by-room with gorgeous antique furniture and finishings. Her vast collection of stemwear decorates just about every nook and cranny of her home.

Together with her sister and a girlfriend, the three operate a booth at Mercantile Alley in Milton next to Irish Eyes. Her new days of retirement mean she will be able to spend more time scouring estate sales and shops for various antiques, she said.

“I love the story behind all the antique pieces,” she said. “We're always looking for items.”

Mrazeck said they take frequent trips to markets in the Washington, D.C., area and also stop at off the beaten track shops every chance they get.

“Now I can get to some of the antique stores I've been meaning to stop at for years,” she said.

She also has time for her grandchildren – two of whom recently moved into the school district and three who live in Indiana.

Keeping up with twin 4-year-old boys from South Bend may be her biggest challenge yet.

“I had one girl. I'm not used to these boys. They can get into everything if you don't keep an eye on them,” she said.

Mrazeck and her husband Frank, also a retired educator, took care of the boys for a week in August while her daughter, Leigh, son-in-law and 9-year-old grandson traveled to Italy.

“The twins really like to draw, and I found some artwork on a wall upstairs,” she said. Left be with a crayon, she said, she is sure the boys would have decorated all of her white walls.

The lifelong educator said she is up for the challenge when all three boys are due to visit this fall.

Looking back on her early years, Mrazeck said always knew she wanted to teach.

“I never remember a time in my life that I didn't want to teach,” she said.

Mrazeck grew up in Hyattsville, Md. and took classes at Montgomery College and University of Maryland, where she met her husband, Frank. The couple moved to Morganstown, W. Va., after Frank was hired as a professor at West Virginia University. For Mrazeck, it was an opportunity to attend school full-time after years of working to pay for courses here and there. Mrazeck said she is the only one in her family who went on to be a teacher.

At West Virginia, Mrazeck earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education and later a master's in curriculum and instruction. She taught third-grade in Morgantown and eventually taught a gifted and talented class before moving into administration as assistant principal of Morgantown High School.

After her husband retired from his job as principal in 2004, Mrazeck said she started looking for work in the Cape Region. At the time, the couple owned a vacation home on Savannah Road that they had enjoyed for years, and her sister and brother-in-law had just built a home in Broadkill Beach.

The time was right to move here permanently and when Mrazeck was hired assistant principal at Cape High, she said, the couple had their chance. Mrazeck said she enjoyed her time at the old high school, especially supporting the creation of a ninth-grade academy. The year the new high school was complete, however, Mrazeck switched to an assistant position at Beacon Middle School.

“It had a great reputation,” she said. “I thought I'd have a hard time adjusting to middle school, but it was great getting to know that age group and watching the students grow.”

Students change both physically and mentally as they move from sixth to eighth grade, she said.

“At the end of eighth grade, they're ready to leave,” she said.

Mrazeck said she spent the summer months helping the new assistant principal, Lisa Morris, transition into her new position.

Now, Mrazeck said she has time to get ready for her grandsons' visit and also plan a trip to Ashville, N.C., where she and Frank will stay in the famed Biltmore Hotel. She said she has never visited the historic town and is excited about touring the exquisite architecture and dabbling in the local vineyard while she is there.

“There are so many things I wanted to do, that I'll be able to do now,” she said. “But I'm happy to be here in the Lewes area. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”