Lifestyle

Arlene Retired After 57 Years of Teaching. Then She Went Back to the Classroom at 87: “I Didn’t Like Being Home Alone”

By Erica Coleman · November 14, 2026

Arlene VanDyke had already given 57 years to the classroom when she retired. By any measure, she had earned the rest.

It did not last. In January 2023, KSL 5 News in Salt Lake City found her back at Wasatch Elementary in Ogden, Utah, still working in the month she turned 90. Reporter Mike Anderson said it was the second time she had come out of retirement.

The reason she first went back was personal. KSL reported that after she lost her husband, she needed to do something, and the school was where she wanted to be.

“School is a happy place to be,” she told the station. “I just came back volunteering. I didn’t like being home alone and I missed teaching.”

The volunteering turned into a full time job again at 87, according to KSL.

She does not describe it as a sacrifice. “I loved it the first day I started teaching,” she said. “I’ve loved it ever since. It’s wonderful to have a job you love to go to.”

She stepped away during the pandemic, KSL said, but after returning to volunteer, the arrangement became more permanent. Part of that was the school’s doing. “They just keep asking me to come back and it’s not hard to convince me because I want to,” she said with a chuckle.

The job has been adjusted to fit her. KSL reported that she does not handle technology, sticking to the basics as she works part time with advanced readers in kindergarten. She has a little trouble walking, and the school makes it work. She told the station her principal’s answer is simple: “We don’t care. We just want you in the classroom.”

She also credits the adults around her. KSL said she loves the faculty, who make her feel younger, and she called educators wonderful people to work with.

The Standard-Examiner in Ogden marked her 90th birthday the same month, reporting that she turned 90 on Jan. 16, 2023, and that she had returned to the school as a paid teaching assistant after first volunteering with music classes. The paper said she had no end date in mind and was taking things one year at a time.

Arlene is an extreme case, but the direction is real. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections put the labor force participation rate for Americans 75 and older at 8.5 percent in 2025, and the agency projects it will reach 10.1 percent by 2035. Among women 75 and older, the projected rate rises from 6.6 percent to 8.1 percent.

For Arlene, the pull back to work was not about a paycheck at first. She came back as a volunteer, and in her own words, she did not like being home alone.

For readers in a similar spot, there are lower pressure ways to test the idea before taking a job. Many school districts take adult volunteers for reading help and classroom support, usually after a background check. AmeriCorps Seniors runs a Foster Grandparent Program for people 55 and older who mentor and tutor young people, and the agency says some programs offer a modest stipend to qualified, low income volunteers. Its Pathfinder tool lists openings by location.

If a volunteer role grows into paid work, as it did for Arlene, it is worth checking how the income could affect any benefits you already receive before you accept.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. Arlene VanDyke’s story and quotes are from KSL 5 News reporting by Mike Anderson in January 2023 and from the Standard-Examiner; labor force figures are as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.