What will you miss the most?

“I think getting to talk about languages and kids lighting up. I had the opportunity to teach the accelerated French class. And those groups get so excited about how language worlds, it’s like something out of the movies. That’s what I’ll miss the most.”

Why are you retiring?

“I’ve hit 31 years which is the cutoff for retirement in Kansas. I’ve reached that point where I’ve said ‘This has been a lot of fun and I only have so much time left on this planet, I’d like to try some other things.’”

What would you like your final words to your students to be?

“I always say to all of my classes that my hope for them is that when they find themselves in those last years of their lives (with their) grandchildren bouncing on their knees. That those kids point to a bookcase and say, ‘What’s that really thick book back there?’ And they say, ‘Oh, that’s my autobiography and it’s full of adventures.’”