Lightfoot Retires After More than Four Decades in Northville

This article was posted by Aysha Jamali. It was reported and written by Julianne Pitcher.

After 45 years of teaching in Northville, 38 years at Amerman Elementary School, and more than 20 years in room B14, Jeff Lightfoot is not only packing up his classroom for the summer, but he is taking all of his teaching memories with him this time too.

“My drawers are empty.  My shelves are empty.  My closets are empty, and my desk is pretty much empty.  I needed the kids around to get all of this done,” Lightfoot said.

Having lived within ten miles of Amerman his entire life, other than when he attended Michigan State, Lightfoot began teaching in Northville in the fall of 1968 when he was only 20 years old.

“The Northville superintendent approached my counselor at Michigan State University, explaining that they didn’t have any male classroom teachers in the elementary.  He told my counselor, ‘if you have any guys looking for jobs, send them our way.’   I applied for Northville only, requested fifth grade at Main Street, and I got it,” said Lightfoot.

Lightfoot said, “I decided to become a fifth grade teacher when I was in fifth and sixth grade because I had a great fifth grade teacher.  She was a really, really old lady.  She was 65 the year I had her, and she retired that year.  When I said that to someone, I realized, ‘Geez, I guess I’m really, really old because I’m now 65, and I’m retiring.’  So, it was kind of like a funny, ‘what goes around, comes around’ type of thing.”

Lightfoot said that ever since he began teaching, one of his goals has been to teach kids to follow their heart and not their brain.  He believes too many people look at what’s going to create the most income in life, rather than pursue what makes them truly happy.  

“At 45 years, I could’ve retired at 30 years, but I loved it.  I didn’t want to leave.  Right now, I don’t want to retire, but I physically and financially need to retire.  I don’t have the energy to put in the number of hours that I have,” Lightfoot said.

Although most people think of him as a science teacher, Lightfoot’s favorite part about teaching has been writing and reading.

“I just love the world around me.  I love being able to have a room, filled with plants and animals, that the kids want to be a part of,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot’s retirement from teaching does not mean his busy lifestyle will come to an end.  Not only does he plan to buy an anniversary Mustang convertible, volunteer more, continue writing his book, tutor inner-city children, and travel west with his family, Lightfoot wants to work part-time as well.

“I want to be around kids.  I want my summers off, my weekends off, and my evenings off, which kind of sounds like school.  I’m considering driving a school bus,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot also said he would enjoy being a beach bum in his free time too.

“I have days that I just like to go to a beach, just spend the day there, and then as evening settles in, sit on a patio at a restaurant, where I can kind of just watch the boats come in from a day of sailing,” Lightfoot said.

Even though he feels confident in his decision to retire, Lightfoot’s favorite memories are those in the classroom or when he runs into students from the past.

Lightfoot said, “Anytime a child achieves something that was hard, difficult, or frustrating, those would be the greatest moments.”

Although some students might remember him as the teacher who wore one of his 60 pairs of cowboy boots to class every day, Lightfoot believes that all of his students will remember him as more of a friend than a teacher.  

“These kids will probably remember my sense of humor, and they will remember me as someone who expected a lot out of them, but yet encouraged them at the same time,” Lightfoot said.