Veteran staff members Patricia Hadley, Charlotte Taylor, and Scott Brady-Smith will each be retiring at the conclusion of this school year.
Brady-Smith is not be completely walking away however, as he will continue to coach track during the spring. He plans on using his retirement to vacation and sleep late. He has been teaching at Campolindo for 15 years.
Brady-Smith said he will miss his students and coworkers. “Most of my conversations during the day are with kids, that’s my human interaction. Also the great friends here, the great teachers that I like hanging out with.”
Freshman Rex Chen, a student of Brady-Smith, said, “He’s the type of teacher who is really laid back in the style that he teaches. He is a very funny guy, he likes to make a lot of jokes, he teaches in that kind of way. He’s not super serious and he does not force it upon you, but he still gives a lot of information if you look for it.”
Hadley has been managing the campus library for 10 years. “I have just really enjoyed my job here, I like the kids, I like the teachers, it has just been a great place to work,” she said.
Hadley plans to continue working in the same field. She said, “I would like to work a little bit as a reference librarian at a small, public library just a few days a week.”
A member of the world language department for 24 years, Taylor said, “I love the kids, and the faculty has been great to work with, and the administration has made a supportive environment, and it has been a lot of fun- that’s the most important part.”
Retiring will be bittersweet for Taylor. “I won’t miss getting up early in the morning as I’m sure everybody can figure, but I’ll miss the kids and the interaction and my colleagues, but hopefully I can come back and sub or tutor or come and keep up with the events that are going on. And it is just a great community,” she said.
In retirement, Taylor plans on traveling, improving her French, learning German, and volunteering. She added, “I want to work with Hispanic youth in Oakland, do some tutoring and mentoring with Spanish speaking kids in Oakland, so I figure I can take my talents and do something positive with it.”
Junior Anthony Avanessian, one of Taylor’s Spanish 3 students, said, “She shows a lot of enthusiasm about the subject even though a lot of students don’t, and I think that it is really cool thing for a teacher to do.”
“The class is always very entertaining. Ms. Taylor is always very animated,” Spanish student Kimberly Baxter said. “I don’t think I have ever seen a Spanish teacher get that excited about things, like she smacks the desk, and she is very animated all the time.”
All three teachers expect to return to campus occasionally as substitutes. Hadley said, “I may substitute in the library, it’s a possibility. It’s hard to get substitutes that know how to use all of the databases and operating systems. “
