Beaver Area Latin students received a shock when Latin teacher Mr. Michael Monahan announced his resignation from teaching January 9.
Naturally, students were saddened by his departure.
"I miss him and I love him," said senior Zoltan Nemith.
"I cried," said sophomore Grace Druschel.
Druschel, like many, was clearly emotional in response to Mr. Monahan's departure.
In Mr. Monahan's words, he has an opportunity to do something else he truly enjoys, so he decided to make a change.
"I could see myself coming back [to teaching] if I’m not good at investing," stated Mr. Monahan. "I’m going into something that I’ve been practicing since college, and it’s basically trading stocks, but a more philosophical reason I’m leaving is mainly because I’ve been teaching here for seven years and the program went from thirty kids to 130 kids."
Mr. Monahan's personality also played into his decision to leave teaching.
"I would love to move on to a new challenge and keep pushing myself further. I’m the kind of person to keep moving forward and to constantly challenge myself," explained Mr. Monahan.
In Mr. Monahan's absence, his students are naturally wondering if there will be a replacement. At the time being, there is no certified Latin teacher in line to take the job, so the job will be filled by a long-term substitute for now.
"I know the administration is working very hard to find a replacement, but it’s the middle of the year, so it’s hard to find one," said Mr. Monahan.
As with any big change, leaving teaching will have its positives and its negatives.
"I’m not going to miss that daily routine, and all the extra grading and that fun stuff. I won’t miss going home and having three hours of homework a night like any student," stated Mr. Monahan.
Of course leaving teaching won’t be all sunshine and rainbows either, and Mr. Monahan will be leaving behind something very important to him.
"I’m going to miss my students the most. I’ve taught kids from the time they were in seventh grade to the time they’re seniors; I’ve taught kids as they’ve grown up, and I’ve seen them grow from middle schoolers to adults going to college," Mr. Monahan stated.
A few students have commented that Mr. Monahan's journey is the reverse of Mr. Driscoll's who came out of investing into teaching. However, students shouldn’t expect Mr. Monahan to come back into teaching anytime soon.
The day after he left, Mr. Monahan sent a letter to his students through Schoology. In his heartfelt letter addressed "To the VERY Best Students at Beaver," Mr. Monahan thanked his students for all the fantastic years he taught them and gave his students encouragement as he said goodbye one final time.
"January 9th was my last day being a full-time Latin teacher at Beaver Area. It turned out to be one of the hardest, most moving days of my life. By the end of the day, I was truly conflicted about leaving. Yet, I knew that it was time to leave. This knowledge still didn’t make it any easier to say 'goodbye' to the best students a teacher could have possibly asked for."
He ended his letter with the Latin phrase "Ave et Vale," meaning "Hail and Farewell."
Farewell to Mr. Monahan, and may he always remember, "carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."