Eight years ago a great man came into office, and no, we’re not talking about Obama. Throughout his days here at Analy, Chris Heller has been a kind and just ruler. As the class of 2016 graduates, so does Mr. Heller as he lays down his crown and leaves his castle.

From very young, Mr. Heller has had big dreams. As a child, he dreamed of being a weatherman, and still fantasizes about chasing tornadoes across Kansas. Some say his lust for power began at age 18, when he set his sights on coaching basketball. At that time, he had no idea where this would take him, but soon realized it would be difficult to make much money from just coaching. And so he set off to climb the ladder to the educational throne. He began as a social studies and math teacher, and after gradually developing a taste for power, rose to the position of Analy’s principal in 2008. Mr. Heller says his quest will stop when he reaches either the position of superintendent or involvement in the “California Interscholastic Federation for the north coast section, which governs high school sports and leadership.”

Following the example of our current head of state, Mr. Heller has decided that in order to “stay fresh” and keep learning, he needs to retire from his current station and find a new kingdom. Mr. Heller’s new position, to which he will be transferring in the fall, gives him the title of Chief Academic Officer. He’ll be working in the district office of St. Helena, but won’t need to move––Mr. Heller plans to commute the 25 miles between his home in Santa Rosa and his new office.

Analy means a lot to Mr. Heller, and he says that leaving will be bittersweet. His new position is not student-related like his current job here. He says, “I’ll miss a lot of daily student and teacher interactions. Sebastopol is a very unique place, so I’ll miss a lot about the culture of both Analy and Sebastopol, and I’ll just miss coming to work here daily, I’m sure.” He’ll miss the many relationships he’s developed over the past eight years but feels excited to rule a bigger castle with a bigger crown. Luckily, this means Mr. Heller can now release some much-anticipated information. When asked for some teacher gossip, Mr. Heller replied, “Mr. Forslund drives a minivan; Mr. Carter used to be a sumo-wrestler. Ms. Amirkhan really is nice.” Mr. Heller neglected to share other information that he deemed not “fit for print.”

As for Mr. Heller’s replacement, his successor is still undetermined, but should be decided within the next few weeks. While he’s not part of the decision process, Mr. Heller said that if it were up to him, Jim Carrey would be perfect for the job. But his decision to leave did not come easily, says Mr. Heller, “It’s bittersweet to leave. My kids grew up here, I grew up here, in a lot of ways, the last 8 years, so it’s a little awkward leaving––and it’ll be hard to do––but I’m looking forward to a new challenge, a new opportunity, I’ll miss a lot of the students, no doubt.”