For the past 26 years, Kathy Habiger unlocked her journalism classroom door just off the commons area at Mill Valley High School and stepped in her own personal “fish bowl.”

That’s what she called her office inside Mill Valley’s journalism classroom, a space where students could peer in, its walls lined with Jayhawk momentos, gifted rubber ducks and words of encouragement.

Now, Habiger is retiring after a 30-year career with Unified School District 232 — first starting out at De Soto High for four years before leading Mill Valley’s journalism program when the school opened in 2000.

Habiger said she still loves the job, but she’s interested in changing it up after 26 years — and, at least, a summer without a 9 to 5 job.

As for the place she’s leaving behind, Habiger said the culture of the school is special and that “Mill Valley has the best kids.”

“That community, that school district, they’re the very best,” Habiger said. “Sometimes they make me tired because of all the work they want to do and all the things they want to try and discover.”

Meanwhile, some of her 631 former students and one longtime colleague credit Habiger with building a renowned student journalism program in Johnson County.

She is retiring after a 30-year career

After growing up with a mother who taught first grade, Habiger decided to use her journalism degree from the University of Kansas to get into teaching herself.

She’s been the only journalism adviser at Mill Valley for the school’s existence.

Habiger said she came to the decision to retire partially because she became eligible to do so, but her husband’s December retirement also influenced her decision.

After 26 years of doing the same job, Habiger said she’s interested in seeing what else is out there for her.

“I will miss the job, I still love the job, but I always wanted to move on when it was that, that it wasn’t, ‘I hate this, I can’t do this anymore,’” Habiger said. “Teachers have it hard right now, and you hear a lot of people saying, ‘Ugh, I can’t wait to be done.’ And I’ve never felt like that, ever.”

For her former students, Habiger’s retirement signals the end of an era.

Miranda Easley, a 2011 Mill Valley alumna who was on yearbook staff for three years, said she remembers Habiger’s classroom was the place to be before and after school and during seminar.

Easley said Habiger held all of her students to a high standard but still fostered a silly, fun learning environment. She said Habiger helped her gain self-confidence as a writer and a strong work ethic.

As for the Mill Valley journalism program itself, Easley said the plaques on the wall and the successful student publications are all to Habiger’s credit.

“Her name is synonymous with the journalism program here, she is the one,” Easley said. “Whoever’s coming next has big shoes to fill.”

Habiger is a decorated journalism adviser

Over the course of her three-decade career, Habiger led student journalists to earn dozens of awards and honors — which now line the hallway outside of her classroom and the walls of her classroom.

Habiger racked up achievements for herself along the way, too.

In 2025, the Kansas Scholastic Press Association inducted Habiger into its Hall of Fame alongside nearly 50 other educators and professional media members for “outstanding personal achievement in student journalism.”

Earlier this year, Habiger earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journalism Education Association for her “dedication to journalism education” as an adviser.

Habiger said that while the awards and honors are nice, it’s not why she came back to the same classroom for the past 26 years.

“When I think about all the plaques on the wall and all that stuff, that’s amazing, but it’s also kind of secondary to just what these kids were able to experience being in my classroom,” Habiger said.

Instead, Habiger said the part of her career that stands out across all others remains the hundreds of students she taught.

Habiger said she believes those students learned life lessons in her classroom that go beyond journalism, as well as memories of late publication nights and persevering through challenges.

For her successor, Kathy Camarena, Habiger said she recommends giving the students the foundations of journalism, and letting them take the reins.

“I feel like that’s an important part of our job is to build the kids up and give them the knowledge they need about journalism and how to do the things, and just let them do the work,” Habiger said. “Let them discover what it’s like to succeed and to fail and to have a good time doing it.”

‘Do you know Kathy Habiger?’

Students like 2016 alumna Tori McClure and 2017 alumna Laken Wagner, Easley’s sister, say she pushed them hard but maintained a classroom culture that everyone wanted to be part of.

McClure, who helped plan a May 30 retirement party for Habiger’s former students, said Habiger is well-loved and well-respected in the community. Habiger has had a positive impact on McClure herself, she said, and built “a powerhouse of a program.”

Mill Valley’s journalism program and its students are respected by other programs, and its success is reflected in the awards and state titles, McClure said.

“It was just a byproduct of the way that she carried herself, cared for her students and pushed us,” McClure said.

Wagner, who was yearbook editor-in-chief her senior year for copy and design, said Habiger’s room always meant hard work — but it also meant fun.

Habiger pushed students to go outside of their comfort zone, Wagner said, which is something she replicates in her own career as someone who now works with college students.

Wagner said Habiger is the foundation of journalism at Mill Valley.

“She has literally decades of students who still love her and who still see her as a friend, and I think that that’s just a really unique and special thing,” Wagner said.

One of Habiger’s former colleagues agrees with her students.

Jerry Howard worked with Habiger from 2009 to 2021. He was an art teacher at Mill Valley and also taught digital imaging alongside Habiger.

Howard said the dozens of former students and some of their families who attended Habiger’s retirement party on May 30 did not surprise him.

That’s because Habiger “is the cornerstone of this school,” Howard said.

Every Friday, Habiger played music on a speaker outside of her classroom during each passing period. Her classes were always full, with students returning year after year, Howard said.

Beyond that, Howard said Habiger has a reputation for being well-respected and incredibly professional and that will carry on through her legacy.

“Her legacy would be, if you tell somebody you taught at Mill Valley, that would probably be the first thing they ask you: ‘Do you know Kathy Habiger?’,” Howard said. “I mean she is just that staple of a person here.”

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