Charles City teachers Rima, Malven retiring

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City School District will lose 62 years of teaching experience at the end of the school year.

Marla Rima and Tim Malven, both currently special education teachers at Charles City Middle School, will be retiring. Rima has been teaching for 35 years — 20 of those in Charles City — while Malven has been teaching 27 years, the last seven of them here.

CCMS Principal Joe Taylor said the school will be losing a lot of institutional knowledge with their departures.

“They’ve seen the pendulum of education come and go a number of times, and they help keep us grounded,” Taylor said. “They’re both very valuable to our Charles City family, and I wish them the best.”

Taylor also said it would be tough to replace two teachers who both work so well with students.

“They definitely care a lot about kids, and helping them be successful, in school and in life,” Taylor said. “We will miss them, but we’re really happy for them.”

Rima is also Charles City’s cheerleading coach, and will be retiring from that job as well. She also coached dance for several years at Charles City. She earned her degree in special education from Buena Vista College (now Buena Vista University).

“Things change over time, but I’ve had a lot of good experiences at this school,” Rima said. “I really have loved it.”

Rima said she was going to particularly miss her cheerleaders, which she called her family.

“She has a big heart, she’s so kind and generous,” Taylor said. “We’re definitely going to miss her. She’s led the way in empathy around here.”

Caring for her students and co-workers comes naturally for Rima.

“The kids are all great, I’ll miss the kids, and the camaraderie with my peers,” she said.

She and her husband, Gary — who is the radio voice of Northern Iowa Panther athletics — plan to stick around for a while, although Rima said the eventual goal is to “get to Florida and enjoy the sunshine.”

Meanwhile, Rima has found a second career, as she teaches English online to kids in China. She said she can do it on her own time and earn a little extra money.

“It’s wonderful. It is a fantastic experience,” she said. “I’ve moved into another area of education that I’m thrilled with.”

Malven’s plans include a possible second career as well, as he is in the process of getting a bus driver license, and intends to drive an activity bus for the Nashua-Plainfield School District, where he lives and where his kids are enrolled. He and his wife, Paige, have four children.

“I’m looking forward to doing that,” Malven said. “I have some other things in mind as well, but nothing concrete. I’m not retired from life.”

Malven is also a published author, and wrote a Christmas book years ago that is still available online, entitled “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t.”

Originally from Maynard, Malven graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, and his other interests include cars, basketball, football and farming.

“Tim has been leading the way with some of our co-teaching,” Taylor said. “He’s always getting into classrooms and helping to facilitate the learning for our special ed students in the general ed classroom.”

Malven has taught in Houston, Texas, then returned to Iowa, where he taught in Manning and at Lutheran Services in Waverly before coming here. He taught high school special ed at Charles City when he was first hired, then moved to the middle school when it needed additional help.

“One thing I know I’m going to miss is my relationships with my co-workers,” Malven said. “We have a good group of people that I’ve worked with, year in and year out.”

Malven said that, unfortunately, he believes there has been a decline in work ethic among students over the years, and he believes that students have more mental health challenges than they did 10-20 years ago. He called that “troubling,” but said he thought the school district could work to turn that around.

“I think we have a good administration in place in Charles City that is going to help improve some things,” he said. “I think they have a good foundation to get things back to where they probably ought to be.”

Malven said his years in Charles City have been positive.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at Charles City,” he said. “I’ve worked with some really great people. It was definitely a great experience.”