retiring teachers of 2018 Although Morrison believes there will eventually be a replacement guidance counselor, she is not worried about the success of her sophomores, as she feels they have been given all the information over the past two years that they need to move forward into their final two years of high school. “I thought carefully about the rotation and about what made the most sense of when to leave. Once we have the junior, senior plan, [the sophomores] are no longer adjusting to the high school,” Morrison said. Although she is parting with one passion, Morrison looks forward to exploring many of her other passions in her retirement. “It’s not like I have a plan to go off and be a counselor at another place, necessarily, but I have a lot of things that I would like to do, maybe some things internationally,” Morrison said. “I travel and backpack do those kinds of things. I’d love to be able to do some more stuff in the community that I haven’t had time for.” Morrison emphasizes that although there are certain activities she is looking forward to in retirement, there is not one thing that she prizes the most because she is interested in anything and everything. As far as exploring these activities, Morrison plans to
devote herself to life in retirement as she would to her current job. “I’ve been given the gift to be able to finish one career and then open the doors of another, that’s pretty amazing,” Morrison said. Although CHS will be sad to see her go, Morrison has left an everlasting mark on the students she has cultivated, and she can safely say they have left a mark on her as well. “To see the change from an eighth grader to a high school graduate, it’s like watching birth to three or four. Every day there’s something new, every day something evolving and it’s a privilege to be a part of it and to be to watch it and to be able to stay with a class over time.”
Mike Rust By Liam Reddington “They went from chalkboards to overhead projectors to whiteboards to the Chromebooks, but I’ll miss out on the Chromebook,” said Clayton High School math teacher Mike Rust, who plans on retiring at the end of this school year after 27 years of teaching in the District. “When I got hired, Clayton had a reputation of not hiring new teachers, and people in the area were like, ‘oh don’t even apply, Clayton doesn’t hire new teachers.’ But they did [hire a new teacher] and I got the job.” Rust originally intended to teach at an international school after gaining a few years of experience from Clayton, “I knew nothing about Clayton, I just knew they had a math opening, so I thought, okay I can teach here for a couple years and then apply to teach at an international school, but it’s so amazing here that 27 years later, 2 years turned into 27 years,” Rust said. Rust credits the long stay to the community in Clayton. “The people I work with, there’s a lot of amazing kids, a lot of amazing families here. So just building those relationships.” During his years at Clayton, Rust has been very involved outside of the classroom. “I’ve been coaching track and I’ve coached football here, I’ve coached volleyball. So especially during the track season it’s very busy and don’t get much done around the house.” Rust credited Clayton’s many academic successes with the dedication of our students of staff. “You look at physics competitions, chemistry competitions, the Globe, I mean, we’re winning awards for everything we do, amazing theater programs, music programs, it’s all incredible so it’s a good place.” After retirement Rust plans on taking a break from the action. “I think I’m going to take a year and not commit to anything for-
mal, so do some things around the house, do some traveling, do some things with friends.” But Rust doesn’t think he will end his career just yet. Already an avid traveller, he dwells on the possibility of working for Delta Air Lines so that he can fly for free. “Maybe some tutoring, or teaching at a private school, or pursuing a job with Delta to some capacity would be ideal, but traveling is somewhere on the list I think.” Even with plans for a potential new gig and travel all over the world, Rust doesn’t plan on moving anytime soon, but he says anything could be possible, “hey, life’s short and I’ll go see what happens.”
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