Long-time Earth Science teacher Joel Gray is closing a chapter in his life. After teaching for 35 years, Gray is officially retiring at the end of the 2026 school year. He has taught a variety of different science classes in his career, including Oceanography, Geology, Physics, and his favorite to teach, Earth Science. 

“My favorite lesson to teach in Earth Science is a fancy word called diastrophism. It’s the death and destruction unit. Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, etc,” said Gray.

In his years of teaching, he has had some great teaching experiences and memories, but one in particular stands out to him. “I put a wooden snake in Mrs. [Margo] Bruce’s office, and she jumped on her desk,” he said.

Gray believes in making the next generation of adults professional and passionate. “See the way kids grow. Teachers don’t teach for the money. They teach because they want to see young people grow and develop the inner strength to keep our country the best place in the world to live. It only takes a single generation to mess that up,” Gray said.

Many students say they are going to be sad to see him go. “He is a great teacher, and it’s only been a few weeks. I hope that his classes treat him well this year, and that he has a good retirement after the school year,” said sophomore Audrey Dickinson.

“I still have him for the rest of the semester, but knowing I can’t visit him in future years makes me sad,” said sophomore Ava Bass.

Even though Gray will be very missed by many students, he is looking forward to doing things he loves outside of school more often. “I’m excited to have spare time, and to be able to see people I haven’t seen in years. I want to play golf, sit in the woods and pretend to hunt, and stuff like that,” Gray said.

After teaching so long, Grays says he has mixed emotions about retiring. “[I’m] a little sad since being a teacher and coach. It has defined my life. At the same time, [I feel] quite a sense of excitement about all the time I’ll have to do other things and not be tied to a single building all day,” he said.