As the school year draws to a close and the seniors move on to the next chapter of their lives, students have to say goodbye to some teachers as well. Between new jobs, retirement, family, travel, and more affordable living areas, AHS is losing eight teachers and three staff members. While we will all miss them dearly and the loss will certainly have an impact on students, it is inspiring to see them all following their passions, and moving forward in their lives.

This loss has a significant impact on many students including our journalism class, which is losing our very own Elizabeth Stewart-Severy. Many of us were excited to get to spend the rest of our high school career with Elizabeth and while we know that she will visit us frequently, it is still a great loss to our class as a whole and to the Skier Scribbler. Under Elizabeth’s direction we have developed an award-winning newspaper with many award-winning writers. She has put her time and energy into helping us make the best product we can possibly develop, and immensely bettered us as journalists. While we will miss her, it is even more inspiring to see her transition back into the journalism world with a job at Aspen Public Radio.

Our class has not been the only group affected. A large group of students around the school have been seriously affected by teachers leaving. For everyone who became close to a teacher, it can be difficult to lose them without warning. Knowing that next year will not bring more conversations in the hallways or the option to pop into their office for a quick chat can certainly invoke melancholy feelings. For those who were looking forward to having a certain teacher in the future and were anticipating a year full of Bono’s infamous off topic rants or hearing stories of David Fregly’s crazy childhood, it can feel sad to know that we won’t have the opportunity to experience their famed classes. A teacher has the ability to make or break the learning of a subject, and we are truly lucky to have a multitude of teachers here at AHS who make learning such a wonderful experience, but it makes it harder to say goodbye.

Although bidding adieu to teachers makes students feel somber, we must embrace the opportunities their departure creates. While we wave farewell to some of our most beloved mentors, we have the opportunity to welcome new ones. With new teachers come new learning opportunities, and transitions in staff can result in us developing skills we may never have had and new opportunities to learn math or science or language or journalism in a different way. While it is certainly sad at times to say goodbye and to can be a challenge to adjust to a new learning style, we as students have great opportunities to broaden our learning in the year to come.

To the teachers leaving AHS this year: know that you have affected many students in a very positive way. The Skier Scribbler staff wishes you luck and joy as you move onward and on to new things. Know that your students appreciate you, and will miss you dearly in the years ahead.