Once a Cougar, Always a Cougar: A Legacy of Friendship

For a group of retired Curry Elementary teachers and staff, the phrase “Once a Cougar, always a Cougar” couldn’t ring truer. 

For over 15 years, this group of 20 former colleagues have been meeting at what they call their “Curry Chat and Chew.” The location, time, and date of the monthly lunch rarely vary – 11:30 a.m. at Panera Bread on the fourth Monday of the month – ensuring that members who come in and out of town always know where they can find their old friends for a catch-up. 

Monthly lunches were first organized as a way for the former colleagues to support their friend who was battling cancer, but it soon became a tradition. And as the name suggests, the group is focused on staying connected. “We just chat and chew,” member Wendy Rose shared. “We talk about everything.”

Rose spent her entire 17+ year teaching career at Curry Elementary, starting as a student teacher and continuing on to teach kindergarten all the way to third grade. Her own children attended Evans School (repurposed as Evans Learning Center in 2009) and McKemy Middle School in the district.

Another member, Pat Philips, serves as the social secretary for Curry Chat and Chew. Philips is an alumni of Tempe Elementary Schools, having attended Rural School and McKemy Middle School. Like Rose, Philips also spent her whole career in the district, teaching at Mitchell, Ward, McKemy, Fees, and Curry, where she retired in 2007. Philips is responsible for rallying the troops together for monthly lunches and, as a true teacher, takes attendance every time. 

In talking about what makes this group of past educators so special, Philips reflects on all of the time they spent together during their careers. “We did stuff together then – we walked Mill Avenue, celebrated our birthdays, and we saw each other every single day,” she said. To her, the group is just a continuation of that. “We support each other when we’re well and not well, as we hit milestone birthdays, all of that.”

When current Curry Elementary principal Colleen Love learned about the group, she immediately offered to host one of the group’s get togethers at Curry. With a special visit from Superintendent Dr. James Driscoll and old class photos lining the walls, the retired Curry Cougars relished the opportunity to go back to their old stomping grounds. 

“It was unbelievable,” Philips said. “My kindergarten classroom was really different,” Rose added. “But it still brought up a lot of memories.”

“I remember the day we got our Apple 2E computers,” Philips recalled. “We got just a big shot-in-the-arm on how to use these things and they brought them into our classrooms. It never stopped after that. It changed everything.”

When asked about the legacy of the district over its 150-year history, one word came to both of their minds: innovative.

“Always innovative,” Wendy said. “I think the district has always been very innovative – different reading programs through the years, different science programs.”

“Being on the frontline of innovation and the internet,” Philips added about Tempe Elementary School’s legacy. “It’s tried and true. It’s been a positive experience for decades.” 

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Learn more about Tempe Elementary School’s legacy of excellence at our 150th Anniversary event on Saturday, April 5 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Sanchez Administration Building on Rural and Southern. More details to come at tempeschools.org/ourlegacy.

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About Tempe Elementary Schools
Tempe Elementary School comprises 22 small, neighborhood elementary and middle schools in Tempe, Arizona. We Tempe Elementary is committed to  providing a welcoming, achieving, eye-opening, and future-ready preschool to 8th grade education to free the boundless potential in each child - so they are fully prepared to embrace the opportunities of tomorrow and excel for a lifetime. Learn more about Tempe Elementary Schools.