Pandemic breakfast club, parking lot tradition sticks for former State College educators

Every Wednesday morning, rain or shine, jacket weather or with a need for sunglasses, a group of former State College Area School District educators meet in the back parking lot of the Original Waffle Shop on North Atherton Street.

The group spreads out in the parking lot, pulling folding chairs and tables out of trunks and backseats. They head inside to pick up their breakfast in clear to-go boxes, set out by staff who know to expect the group’s arrival.

At its fullest, the group boasts 12 members but busy schedules mean the entire group is rarely there. At the group’s last meeting, only eight were present, set up in a circle with steaming cups of coffee in the chilled October air.

“Someone told us one time we looked like we were practicing tailgating,” Sherry Wright, former middle school health and physical education teacher, said. “We thought that sounded like a good idea.”

There’s no formal agenda, no mandatory attendance, no requirements besides a chair and a history as a State College educator.

Many of the members had been having Wednesday morning breakfast at the Waffle Shop for years, but when the pandemic hit, the group moved outdoors. The group moved around, helping to support local breakfast places that were struggling, but ended up once again at Waffle Shop North.

Barry Rossman, a former high school math teacher, said the group was therapeutic during the beginning of the pandemic when many people were in isolation.

“At a couple of points during the pandemic, we kind of agreed that this sort of meeting really helped us get through the pandemic because it allowed us to still have interactions with one another with people outside of our family,” Rossman said.

The members talk about their children, former students, sports, current events and how much State College has changed. They poke at each other’s ages or quirks, but the love is evident.

“We laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh,” Wright said. “I think it’s the best thing, I mean we make fun of ourselves or each other.”

Despite their love for teaching, the group has seen how hard it is for educators and administrators today. Rossman said he has stopped encouraging young people to go into education because of how difficult the industry has become. Rossman and the others cited pandemic burnout, increased teaching responsibilities and student behavior as problems they see current educators facing.

“We lived through a golden age of teaching,” Rossman said.

Although all the group members taught at the district, they were spread across the middle school and high school as health teachers, principals, counselors and more. They may look back on their shared past as educators but are always looking forward, or at least to next Wednesday’s breakfast club.

“We loved our jobs,” Wright said. “But we also love being retired. And this is a highlight every week.”