My Retirement Speech

The only thing I regretted about not having a big retirement party was not being able to give a final speech.  I decided to use the end term party as an opportunity to say goodbye.  I'm not sure people were thrilled to hear me, but that was too bad.  I was never one to keep quiet.  (BTW, the party was great, I had a fantastic time and am very happy that I attended.  I discovered that there were people in the school that actually like me.)

I want to share my speech here.

I can’t believe it has been almost 27 years since I started teaching at Packemin HS and 38 years since I began my teaching career at Julia Richman HS.  Time certainly flies when you are having fun and to me, teaching has always been fun, even on its worst days, it was a labor of love.

Over the years I have worked with many wonderful people and have made lifetime friends.  I became a teacher by default, not knowing what else I could possibly do with a degree in math, but I never regretted my decision.  Teaching completed me.

These last few years have been especially good for me.  For the first time in my career I worked for a Principal who respected me, valued what I had to say, actually did what I suggested sometimes, and was always available to talk to.  I thought pigs would fly and hell would freeze before I ever said a kind word about any administrator, but I was wrong about that.

I leave now, with a heavy heart, but know that for me, leaving is the right thing to do.  I want to thank you all for making these last years a blast.  I’ll still be here period 1-teaching my College Now class and I promised my dysfunctional algebra kids that I would come around to help them with geometry so you still be tripping over me in the hallway.  My poor husband is worrying about all the projects I will find to involve him in, but between teaching the two community college classes, possibly two more at another college, writing letters to the newspaper and keeping up my blog, taking photography classes and truck driving lessons, I will still leave him with plenty of time to sit and play with his i-pad.

I wish you all the same joy and happiness I have felt being a teacher.  Remember, life is too short not to enjoy life and we do spend a major part of our lives here.

Have a wonderful school year.  As you return in September mourning the end of your vacation, I will be feeling just as sad, knowing Packemin is no longer a place for me to spend my days.