It seems this year that our school is watching countless teachers leave. One of those teachers is social studies teacher Anne Stewart. Stewart has been teaching at our school for 20 years and has decided to move on to Langston High School at the new Grace Hopper building.

Langston is a continuation program that takes in students who are struggling at larger high schools, so that they can have more devoted, personalized time to catch up with their peers. Stewart will only be teaching classes one semester at a time instead of a whole year.

“I have a lot of reasons for why I’m leaving,” Stewart said.

She explained that her job has changed a lot from when she started. For Stewart, the part of teaching she loves most is connecting with her students on a personal level, and she finds that those connections help students to learn. As class sizes get larger and teaching becomes more complicated, it’s harder to make those connections. Stewart hopes that smaller classes at Langston will allow for her to get to know her students better.

Stewart will still be teaching social studies, as she calls herself a history nerd, and will be focused on ninth and tenth graders. However, teaching at Langston will be more fluid, catering the curriculum to what the students need instead of a set schedule of topics.

The size of the staff has shrunk along with the students, with only 23 faculty members in the whole school.

“For the most part, I’m going in not knowing anybody or anything about the program,” Stewart said.

Despite the unfamiliar environment, Stewart is nothing but excited for the new opportunities that this change holds. She knows that her ability to connect with students will provide a unique and special foundation for their success.

Stewart says one of her favorite experiences at our school was connecting with students and recognizing their potential, even if that meant urging them to switch out of her class and into harder ones. She also loved collaborating with her other teachers, bonding over experiences with students, and processing the crazy twists and turns that come with the job.

Anyone who has interacted with Stewart knows just how kind a person she is, and we can all be sure that she will succeed in everything she does at her new school. We will all miss her dearly, but we wish her luck in everything she decides to do.