By Marcos Duran Posted June 4, 2015
It’s that time of the year again when students and teachers leave school, enjoy summer, and come back in August, ready to start yet another school year. However, some teachers don’t come back, as they have decided that it’s time to retire. Mr. Ron Beck, Mr. Mark Carstensen, and Mrs. Joyce Langham have decided it’s time to do just that. Now that they are leaving, they have nothing but good things to say about their time at Lowry High School.
When asked about his time teaching at Lowry, Mr. Ron Beck said “I came here in 1990, when a good friend of mine told me that there was an opening to teach History. I was hired that same day and have been teaching here ever since. Teaching history has always been my passion, and I got to do just that right here. I also got to coach football and be a Buckaroo. I’ll definitely miss Lowry, but it’s time to start a new phase in my life.”
Carstensen and Langham have similar tones to Beck’s.
“I’ve been teaching since 1985, but started to teach here in 2004 because I always wanted to teach World History at the high school level,” said Carstensen. “I’ve liked teaching History and Government, and I’ll miss my fellow teachers and students very much.”
“I’ve taught at Lowry for twenty years, and I’ve enjoyed them,” said Langham. “It has always made me happy to help a struggling student pass his classes and get to see that same student walk during graduation. I’ll miss that very much when I leave.”
While these beloved teachers are leaving, however, there are new faces coming in to take their place. They include Mr. Grant Beatty, who will teach World and US History, Mr. Rob Silva, who will teach U.S. Government, and Mr. Dustin Christean, who will replace Mr. Doc Welter as Vice Principal. All of them are excited about becoming involved at Lowry.
“I’m really excited about coming [to Lowry],” said Beatty. “I’ve been teaching Special Education at the Junior High, so I wanted to go into teaching History, and hopefully make an impact. I’ll definitely miss my students here, especially my aides, Mrs. Swanson, Kim Ruiz, Cecilia Ruiz, and Crystal Hepburn,”
Mr. Silva also hopes to make a change in students’ lives. “I’m really excited about teaching Government because I see it as an opportunity to help students become educated voters and see how politics really affects our everyday lives. They are also more mature, and I think it will be a pleasure to work with them,” said Silva.
While beloved teachers may be leaving, new ones will come to take their place to make next year the best one they can.
