Ms. Thomas will be retiring at the end of the year. She teaches a variety of math classes, including accelerated algebra 2. Tiger Times caught up with her to ask her about her time at Analy and her plans going forward.

Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: Teaching high school it’s been twenty years, but I also did some other teaching before that in various grades.
Q: How long have you taught at Analy?
A: Twenty years.
Q: Is there any subject or level of math that you’ve especially enjoyed teaching?
A: Wow, you know they all have … their special pieces. I think I’ve enjoyed accelerated algebra 2 the most because people are so involved in it, but I’ve also loved the other classes.
Q: Do you have a favorite formula or area of math, anything you especially like teaching?
A: Again, there are so many things I love. I love any type of mathematics that requires people to sit and think and the ones where you have more than one way to actually come to a conclusion. I love that.
Q: Do you have a least favorite thing to teach?
A: Yeah, one half and one fourth, that’d be my least favorite thing.
Q: Do you have any advice for future teachers or students?
A: I guess for students it’s just you know, hang in there, be patient, you know, you will succeed, you will get to where you want to be. Dig in, but give yourself some slack.
Q: What will you miss about Analy?
A: The classroom, the students, absolutely. It’s a great place to be and … I will miss that for sure.
Q: Do you have a favorite memory from Analy?
A: … I guess, I’m going to have to say, there are so many, so many activities I’ve done, extra outside with the students. I think it’s that my son graduated from Analy and that was very awesome.
Q: What are you looking forward to in retirement?
A: There’s a lot of things. I’ve a lot of plans. It was my children actually that convinced me that they wanted me to retire because they’ve got little grandkids, I have little grandkids the have little kids, and they don’t live close so that way I can go visit more. So that’s the number one reason. Looking forward to that as well as some traveling, some dancing, some fun stuff, taking some classes that I’ve always wanted to take.
Q: Is there anything else that you’d like to say?
A: Basically, I would say that I have loved teaching here. … You know, I love my classes, I love the classroom, and 99.9% of the students here are just absolutely awesome. I will definitely miss it. I’m glad that I am healthy and capable of leaving while I am. I will definitely miss the classroom more than anything else though.

Analy will miss Ms. Thomas too. She has been a kind and dedicated teacher.