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One Good Thing: Retiree leaves school she attended as child

Julie Diekema first attended Pine Creek Elementary as a kindergartner.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Time for One Good Thing -- someone or something that makes West Michigan a good place to live. A local education professional just called it a career. As she did so, she walked out of the same school she walked into 50 years earlier.

Sept. 7, 1971: Julie Diekema walked into Pine Creek Elementary School as a kindergartner. She's now walking out as a retiring education assistant who worked with special needs students. There were a few other stops along the way. But she came back to Pine Creek about 11 years ago. She's looking forward to traveling and being a grandmother, even though she'll miss the job, which she called very fulfilling.

"I mean, yes, that's a trying job. And there would be days where you'd be like, why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through this?" Diekema said. "And then you have a day or even one student that comes up to you, puts his arms around you, or does something that they've never done before. And then you look at it and you say, 'That's why I'm doing this. That's exactly why I'm doing this job.'"

One Good Thing and congrats to Julie Diekema on your retirement and bookend-ed time at Pine Creek. 

If you have a One Good Thing you'd like to submit - someone or something that makes West Michigan a good place to live - email me with your photos and/or video at OneGoodThing@13OnYourSide.com.

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