Cathy Nowack has been an educator in Howard County for more than three decades, but it's a memory from early in her career that exemplifies, for her, what it means to be a teacher.

"There was this little boy, a first-grader, who I could not get to read anything," said Nowack, who is finishing her third year as principal at Longfellow Elementary School. "Nothing was working. But something happened; he came back from winter break and a light bulb went off.

"You just saw that glow in his face, because he got it, and he was so excited. I remember the relief in his mother's face. It was such an exciting moment."

Those moments are the kind that stick with a teacher, said Nowack, who's retiring after 35 years. Prior to her time at Longfellow, she served as assistant principal at Thunder Hill Elementary and, before that, as a third-grade team leader at Clarksville Elementary.

Her husband is also planning on retiring soon from the Baltimore County Police Department, said Nowack, 56, of Clarksville. Additionally, she said, she has two young grandchildren with whom she wants to spend more time.

"I'm in good health, and I want to have time to enjoy that," she said. "I don't have any grand retirement plans, but I think it'll be a time for my family to be together, and to do the things that I don't want to miss."

One thing Nowack said she will miss, however, in addition to the friendships she has built over the years, is the excitement in students' eyes when they discover something new, like that first-grade boy so many years ago.

"Seeing that 'a-ha' moment in their eyes when they get it, that spark, that's incredible," she said. "I think this job is about creating those lifetime learners, setting off that spark of learning in the children and the adults that you work for and with.

"There's always something else to learn. Every day is a new learning experience. I know it has been for me, especially as principal. I always want to build that challenge into children."