After an 18-year tenure teaching English at Campolindo, Tina Mayer will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Mayer came into the teaching profession later than most. She earned her teaching credential at the age of 55.  Now in her 70’s, Mayer is looking forward to new opportunities, and leaving behind the rigor of language arts instruction. “I’m finally to the point where the paperload is more than I want to handle,” said Mayer.

For most English teachers, grading essays is a time consuming, tedious part of the job. Mayer herself grades about 1200-1300 essays per year. “There’s so many great things about this job, but it just gets to the point where the scales finally tip and you just think, ‘If I grade another essay I think I am going to scream,'” said Mayer.

Once she has finally graded her last papers and said farewell to the campus of which she has been a part for nearly 2 decades, Mayer plans to take Spanish classes, piano lessons, and a master gardening course at UC Berkeley.

One of Mayer’s favorite hobbies is gardening. “I like talking to my plants,” she said.

This new beginning for Mayer is bittersweet for many of the students she has inspired over the years. “I’ll miss her energy and wish her the best in the near future,” said sophomore Abby Morris.

Sophomore Ashlyn Spellman said, “Ms. Mayer is a great teacher and a strong believer.”

Mayer’s future may also be busy with family as she is expecting the birth of twin grandchildren, which will bring her total number of grandchildren to 8.

Mayer said that besides the students, what she will miss most about her time as a teacher is the relationships with her peers. “It’s a great privilege to spend your day with intelligent, rational, interested adults; and then, of course it’s terrific to be with kids,” she said.

“I will miss having a very well-read colleague and someone who’s very supportive of me throughout my 15 years at Campo, especially when I was a new teacher,” said English teacher Nathan Ward.