AP Psychology and Ethnic Studies teacher Diane Bessette has made the decision to retire from her teaching position at Campo with the conclusion of the 2024-2025 school year. Bessette, who has taught at Campo for the past 11 years, will be transitioning into more law and volunteer work.
Bessette’s 11 years at Campo have been nothing short of impactful. Not only has Bessette taught a wide variety of subjects U.S. History to Psychology, but she has also been an advisor for many clubs, such as Women’s Awareness on Campus (WAC) and Model United Nations (UN). English teacher Katie Terhar will be taking over WAC and US Government and Economics teacher Nicole Meyer will be advising Model UN.
As a president of Model UN, current AP Psychology and former Intro to Ethnic Studies student, junior Cassidy Mintz mentioned that “[Bessette] made running Model UN such a smooth experience…I’ve had her for both AP Psychology and Ethnic Studies and they’ve both been super great classes because of her. ”
“One of my majors in college was history, so I love teaching classes related to history,” said Bessette. “But I have also really enjoyed the challenge of learning about psychology in order to be a good AP Psychology teacher.” she added. With three classes of AP Psychology this year, Bessette has ensured that her students are well-versed in psychology and prepared for their AP exam.
Junior and AP Psychology student Arianna Bustamante mentioned, “Ms. Bessette really sparked my interest in psychology, to the point that I’m interested in double majoring in it in college.” Bustamante also added that “[she] discovered how psychology connected to [her] own experiences.”
When asked about her future plans after her departure from Campo, Bessette mentioned she would be doing “a combination of doing some volunteer legal work, perhaps volunteer in education, and also travel,” which will be a return to working in law for Bessette, as she was previously a practicing lawyer.
Regardless of how you know her, Bessette’s undeniable presence will be heavily missed at Campo. “She made it easy to want to come to class and learn, and it was something I always looked forward to,” Bustamante finished.
