Unlike many of the other teachers here at Central, English teacher Elizabeth Bannon will not be returning next year. Instead, she is retiring. Bannon has been teaching at Central since 1984, and during her time here, she has taught English I, II and III, American and World literature, AP Literature and was in charge of the yearbook.

The thing that Bannon enjoyed the most about teaching was working with her students. “They really are a lot of fun, they’re bright, they all are fairly certain that they’re going to go to college, so they’re motivated that way,” Bannon said. “It’s a nice situation for a teacher, but it’s not so much that as just the personalities and the sense of humor and young perspective.”

Bannon took great pride in helping her students succeed. “I always feel that when my students do well, that’s a great accomplishment. When I see students do well on the AP test or I see students who succeed, despite having different situations which make it difficult for them to succeed, I’m always very proud of that,” Bannon said.

But she also said that working on the yearbooks was a proud accomplishment as well. “I really enjoyed doing the yearbooks. When I did them, it was a lot of work, but it was a wonderful thing at the end of the year to produce that great product,” Bannon said, “I was always so proud of my students that they were able to pull it off.”

Upon leaving, Bannon reflected about what she will miss about Central. “[I have] mixed feelings [about leaving], just like anybody does. I think I will miss my colleagues very much, I’ll miss being around teenagers and I’ll miss the intellectual stimulation of trying to figure out a problem.”

While she won’t be teaching next year, Bannon has learned some things from teaching at Central that she won’t forget in retirement. “I take away a lot of learning. I certainly have delved into areas of academics that I wouldn’t necessarily have done reading on my own,” Bannon said. “Also, I hope I take away always strong memories of having had a good experience and having done something that’s worthwhile and that sticks with me.”