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Judy Busman -
Stacy Dibble -
Machelle Nolt
Fulda School District art teacher, Judy Busman, has announced her retirement, effective at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. She has taught for 29 years in the Fulda District, but her teaching career spans 40 years.
Busman grew up in Emmons, MN, which is located about 12 miles south of Albert Lea. “Part of the town is in Minnesota and part of it is in Iowa,” Busman explained.
With high school days behind her, she was determined to earn a double major in Art Education Kindergarten through 12th grade and an Elementary Education degree for Kindergarten through 6th grade.
With her degrees in hand, Busman was asked to be a long-term substitute for a teacher in her home district. “I taught high school art for a few months, and had the privilege of teaching my youngest sister,” she said.
Busman also taught 1st grade for 1 year in Emmons before moving on to Onamia, MN, where she taught kindergarten for two years, and was the cheer coach.
“When cuts to the teaching staff were made, I was searching for a different job,” Busman recalled. “Those were the years when there were plenty of educators looking for teaching jobs, but jobs were not plentiful.”
She applied to Worthington District as a kindergarten teacher. “I remember that interview as plain as if it was yesterday,” Busman said. “I interviewed with superintendent Gary Brandt who told me that there were 400 applicants for the position. With that many applications, he asked me ‘Why should I hire you?” I must have answered that question well, because I found out very soon that the job was mine.”
Busman remembers searching for a furnished apartment and making a move to Worthington - which was where she met her future husband, Irving Busman.
“We met at a Prism Bible Study. We married on July 26, 1986, and lived on the farm by Chandler.”
Busman taught at Small Wonders Preschool, Chandler for three years.
She began teaching in the Fulda School District in 1997 as an Early Success Reading teacher.
During her years at Fulda, Busman has taught Title 1, English as a Second Language and English Language Learner classes, first grade reading, second grade writing skills, and elementary art in the elementary school. At the high school, she worked with ESL/ELL, taught study skills, 8th grade life skills, advanced life skills foods, and 7-12 visual art.
Reflecting on the various responsibilities throughout 40 years in education, Busman stated, “It has absolutely been quite a ride!”
In retirement, Busman is planning to work more closely with her love of art. “As an artist, art is my first love. I do so enjoy photography, too. I’m waiting to see where that will take me,” she stated.
Busman is mom to three children: Jessie, and her husband, Jesús, live in Fulda; Andy, and his wife, Stephanie, live on the Busman farm; and Megan lives in Luverne, and teaches elementary art in the Round Lake-Brewster School District.
Stacy Dibble
With a teaching career that has spanned 38 years, Fulda Elementary School 5th grade teacher, Stacy Dibble, has decided that it is time to enter into retirement.
Growing up in Fargo, ND, Dibble wasn’t used to small town living. Her husband, Tim, originally from Moorhead, MN, was offered a job with Toro Company in Windom, and the couple moved to that city.
Dibble taught third grade for one year in Heron Lake before accepting a position in the Fulda district.
She began teaching in Fulda in the fall of 1990. When their son, Max was born, he was in daycare in Fulda. That is when the couple decided to make their home in Fulda, as well.
In the first 14 years at Fulda Schools, Dibble taught 4th, 5th, 6th grades, special education, 2nd grade and then moved back up to 5th grade.
She took classes through a Special Education cohort in Worthington, with that experience leading to a job offer with Worthington District 518. For that district, Dibble taught in 4th and 5th grade, and became the Reading Coordinator.
“When the Worthington District built the Intermediate School, I decided it was time for me to stop the commute from Fulda to Worthington. A 5th grade teacher position became open for the Fall of 2021, and I began teaching in the Fulda District that year,” Dibble said.
When asked about changes in education over the past almost forty years, Dibble replied, “The most dominant change is technology. It has changed the way we teach, the way students learn, and the way that all of us can access information. Some of it is good and some of it is not good.” She continued by saying that communications and relationships between people are different now, as well, because of technology.
“What hasn’t changed has been the fact that I have been so very blessed. I’ve worked with fabulous teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents who dearly love their children and want to see them succeed in their education,” Dibble said. “I wouldn’t trade this career for anything.”
She continued by stating, “I have so many special memories from teaching. One this year was when the whole school sang Happy Birthday to me on my 60th birthday! You can’t imagine what that was like!”
Dibble said that she is so happy with the relationships that have been forged over her years as a teacher. “There are so many of my students that stay in touch with me. I received an email recently from a student who is now a teacher. He was very complimentary about what he learned in my classroom. There are students that I’ve become friends with after they became adults. Those are special relationships that started in the classroom.”
When asked what retirement will look like, Dibble replied, “My dad was a teacher and he passed away at the age of 51. He never had the opportunity to enjoy all that comes with retirement, so it is time for us to do that. My husband, Tim, has been retired for three years now, and we have been “practicing” being retired for the past three summers. We have a lake home in Park Rapids, MN, and we will be spending more time there.”
The Dibble’s plan on traveling more often to visit their son and daughter, and their spouses. Max, and his wife, Olivia, live in Phoenix, AR. Max works for Curtis Tools for Heroes which provides firefighter gear and apparel. Madison and her husband, Alex, live in Arlington, Virginia. Maddy is a speech writer for a United States Senator, while Alex is a deputy legislative director for another U.S. Senator.
Machelle Nolt
Machelle Nolt walked into Fulda Elementary School as a special education teacher for the first time in 1982. 44 years later, she has chosen to resign her position from the one and only job she has ever held.
Nolt, who is originally from LeSueur, MN, graduated high school in 1978. She attended St. Cloud State earning a Special Education degree for grades kindergarten through 12th grade.
Nolt recalls being interviewed for the special education teaching position by Dwayne Westra and Wally Schoeb. “I’ll never forget that interview!” Nolt said. “They asked me ‘Do you know how to give the Woodcock Johnson test?’ That test measures cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and oral language proficiency, and it determines if a student needs special education services. My response to their question was, ‘Yup, I’m trained in that!’ and they hired me!”
During her first year with the Fulda district, Nolt lived in Fulda. “The following year, with my husband teaching in Tyler, we moved to Slayton, so that his compute would be a bit shorter,” Nolt said.
It became Nolt’s job to begin constructing the Special Education Program that is in place today at Fulda schools.
In 2005, she earned her Master’s Degree from St. Mary’s University of MN, through a cohort held in Worthington, MN. “That was many weeks of education for me, but it was so well-worthwhile. It helped with building the special education offerings at Fulda,” Nolt said.
“There have been times throughout the years when I questioned myself, asking ‘what are you doing?’ But, my dad taught me that it is never greener on the other side of the pasture, so I kept doing what I am so very passionate about,” Nolt commented.
“I learned how to have good communication with parents. If you communicate well with parents, they will have your back, and the door is open to be able to positively help their child. When we can identify needs early, the student can go on in their life and achieve what they dream of doing.”
Nolt said that she is always very happy when she sees former students out in the community and they still remember the rewards and prizes that they earned through their hard work. “Over 44 years, there are relationships that we have built that now span 2 to 3 generations.”
Answering a question about what changes Nolt has seen in education, she replied, “Over the 44 years that I have been teaching, educational trends have come and gone. One thing that remained the same was the kids. From then until now, students still want to be successful, and to have the tools that they need to do that. You have to figure out what works for each individual student and encourage them along the way.”
“No job is perfect, but, as teachers, we want to always do the very best that we can for our students’ successes,” Nolt stated.
When asked what she plans to do for retirement, Nolt replied, “I will not be doing nothing.
Everyone that knows me knows that is a fact.”
“I want to thank the Fulda schools and community for me being able to come here, grow here and become the person and the teacher that I am,” Nolt said. “It’s really hard to say goodbye.”
