Gone but never forgotten

Northview teachers leave the school but will leave a lasting impression on students and staff

Rachel Everett, Staff Writer & Sanjana Gopu, Staff Writer

Just like students who graduate and move on to colleges, teachers also move on to new stages in life after Northview. Though they may join another school or retire, the impacts our teachers have made on their students and the bonds formed between the two are invaluable. Whether it is simply the class they taught or the teacher themselves, nothing can take away from the impression Northview’s retiring teachers have made on their students and the school. 

Photo courtesy of Patricia Rodriguez

Patricia Rodriguez

As one of the Spanish teachers teaching  at Northview, Patricia Rodriguez has been here for nearly the school’s entire existence. Through her 18 years of teaching Rodriguez was able to witness Northview and its students grow and change into what they are today.

Prior to Northview, Rodriguez taught Spanish at Milton High School. Through her time at Northview, she expanded her resume and taught almost every Spanish course, from Spanish I to AP Spanish.

“Before I taught every level, I used to teach at Milton. Over there, I [only] taught Spanish three and four and five. So, I have taught everything,” Rodriguez said.

Being at Northview for a long time has its benefits. Rodriguez has been able to see the school grow. Initially, the school was large and overcrowded but once Johns Creek High School opened, the student count went down.

“The student body, I think, is a little more diverse now than it was when I first came in,” Rodriguez said.

The student demographic is not the only thing to have changed. As Northview grew, the student culture grew as well. Students have become more tolerant and accepting of each other, which makes Rodriguez happy. However, she also notes that the stress levels of her class have risen in recent years. To Rodriguez, her students’ mental health and enjoyment is more important than any other aspect of her class. She wants them to enjoy learning and not stress themselves out over school.

“The stress level of the students is much higher than it was when I started,” Rodriguez said.“I don't like them. I want y'all to have fun, and so that makes me sad sometimes that kids get so stressed out over high school.”

After Rodriguez leaves, she will miss the students of Northview and her colleagues. The interactions between her and the students always brightened her days. Rodriguez thinks that she will miss the students’ energy the most.

“I think that what I'm going to miss most is just the energy I get from the kids, I think they help keep you young at heart,” Rodriguez said.

She brags that the world language department is the best. The teachers have fun together and are close to each other, despite teaching different languages. This year, they dubbed the 600 hall “The Terrace” where they ate lunch at the desks just outside their rooms. They had a lot more time to relax and talk to each other during lunch.

“We lunch every day, pretty much the whole department together. We have those desks that are out in the hallways on the 600 hall. And so they're socially distanced, right? But we call that ‘The Terrace’,” Rodriguez said.

The future looks very exciting for Rodriguez. After COVID-19 dies down, and everything returns back to relative normalcy, she wants to travel. Out of all the places she desires to visit, she wishes to travel most to Africa, where she plans on going on a safari. In addition, she and her husband are planning on traveling to South America and spending a while there. With all the amazing scenery it has, she wants to pursue photography and learn more about it.

“My dream has always been when I retire to go on safari to Africa. And that's probably not going to happen in 2021. I'm hoping in 2022, we'll be able to make that dream come true,” Rodriguez said.

James coaches the volleyball team, which won second place at regionals this year.

Photo courtesy of Christopher James

Christopher James

During his six years at Northview, Chrisopher James has become a well-loved teacher amongst the students.  He also coaches the girls’ volleyball team and helps the team with Aces for Abbey, a charity volleyball tournament at Northview. 

James came to Northview after finishing his student teaching career at North Forsyth. He applied for a teaching position in Fulton County Schools, received interview opportunities, and eventually got a job at Northview. James has worked in the history department throughout his years here, and has taught a variety of classes. Ranging from AP Government to World History, he has taught nearly every social studies class. In addition to teaching, he became the volleyball coach in fall of 2015.

Though James has not been at Northview for very long, he has noticed a few changes throughout the school, specifically in the volleyball team. The number of students has decreased and along with it, the number of players. Although the population has changed, James has noticed the biggest change was due to COVID-19. Many events that Northview usually hosts were cancelled because of it.

“And then this year, it was like, nothing happened. I think the biggest thing that I saw change was just this year, because of coronavirus. It was kind of disappointing, and I liked all the stuff we used to do,” James said. “And then this year happened; it was kind of disappointing, I think, for a lot of students.”

While coaching volleyball, James has connected with the girls on the team and has seen many of them grow from freshmen to seniors.  The relationship between him and his peers will not be forgotten. James is optimistic about maintaining his relationships with them and will continue to keep in contact, but it will just be a little different.

“I've gotten to know a lot of my peers here. And you know, they're been a big part of my growth in the classroom, outside of the classroom,” James said.

Although James is unsure of what the future may hold for him he’s excited to experience new challenges. He believes that if teachers push students to challenge themselves, the teachers must do that as well. Moving on from Northview is James’ way of letting students know that it is okay to push themselves into unfamiliar territory.

He wants to continue coaching and teaching but is going to take it one step at a time first.

James has three small kids so taking everything one day at a time is a necessity. Moving out of the Georgia area is not what he and his family are looking for. For now, James will take this challenge head-on and see what life has to offer.

Photo courtesy of Catherine Francisse

Catherine Francisse

Catherine Francisse is another teacher who has been here since nearly the opening of Northview. Teaching wasn’t her first profession, while living in Belgium, her home country, she was a textbook publisher. After moving to Canada then to the United States, due to her husband’s job, she became a French teacher a Northview.

French is an extensive subject, so the list of classes Francisse has taught is long, including French 1 and AP French, for which she has taught for around 10 years.

Northview has certainly changed in the 18 years that Francisse has been here. Students have become more stressed than they have been in the past and more uptight about things. In the past, the student environment was a lot more relaxed, exemplified by one incident that will continue to stand out in Francisse’s memory, of two students, one in AP Spanish and one in AP French. Those students switched places to see if the teachers would notice. It was light-hearted and did not hurt anyone. Franchise misses those kinds of things.

“It seems that the pressure is really stronger now. I don't know if the students put pressure on themselves or the parents or the teachers, they complain more about homework. There are more complaints about that,” Francisse said.

Working in the world language department has been enjoyable for Francisse, her colleagues have been great to work with. What she’ll miss most are the students. The interactions with students were her favorite part.

“I teach because I like the students at Northview,” Francisse said.

Francisse looks forward to traveling, especially during the off-season for tourism. Since her schedule aligned with the school schedule, she could never travel during the low season, and only when there were many tourists. In addition, volunteering is another thing Francisse wants to get more into. In her free time, she wants to find an opportunity where she can help students who have difficulties, in addition to helping at a food bank. She wants a way to give back to the community.

“The whole month of December, I plan to be in Belgium to visit my family,” Francisse said.

While working at Northview, Francisse has experienced a lot and has a few takeaways from Northview. The students really do help keep her young. With all their interactions about popular culture to silly catchphrases, she enjoys teaching more and more. Francisse will continue to see how life goes and will enjoy traveling in the future.

“One of my beliefs is that when you teach, it's I hope we can have fun together because I think that we learn better,” Francisse said.

Photo courtesy of Yelena Yashina

Yelena Yashina

One of the few “original Titans”, meaning she’s been here since the school has opened, Yelena Yashina has decided that it is time to move on from Northview. She has fun plans ahead of her, such as taking care of her grandchild and visiting Northview from time to time.

Yashina is originally from Russia, where she taught Russian to kids, and moved to America later in her life. She lives close to Northview, and the proximity of her residency is how the school caught her attention. She saw the school under construction and was one of the first to apply to teach literature and ESOL. 

“I would say location, but I’m very glad the location brought me to Northview, which I think is one of the best schools,” Yashina said.

Since the time Yashina started at Northview, she’s seen a lot of change. When the school first opened, it had an exhilarating, different feeling. She recalls the first principal being Greek, hence the Greek quotes around the school, and she is very happy that a lot of traditions that have been with Northview since the beginning remain consistent. 

“It’s nice to see our traditions being kept, such as International Night, which we started so long ago, still being kept and going strong,” Yashina said.

Despite the consistent spirit, she’s noticed that teaching has changed, how the learning process for students was much more interactional, and that has changed a lot over time, especially this year with COVID-19. Originally she had started with minimal tools, finding herself connecting with her students much more effectively. However, the introduction of technology to the student body has changed now that so many kids are learning virtually. 

“Back in Russia, all I had was a piece of chalk in my hand and a personality, and now there are a lot more tools, which has kind of disconnected the teacher from the student and the student from the teacher, which is a little bit of a sad moment for me,” Yashina said.

She will definitely miss Northview, including all of her students and her co-workers. As of right now, she doesn’t really feel as if she is leaving Northview, but she thinks it will affect her more as it gets closer to the end of school. As she’s been teaching for more than 30 years, she knows that leaving the profession will feel nostalgic. 

“When I start packing, it’ll hit me. But so far it feels normal, but it’ll feel so surreal, to quit teaching, especially since I’ve been a teacher for so long, in different countries, so I will definitely feel a lot of nostalgia,” Yashina said, “But who knows, I may reappear in some ghostly form, some kind of vision of me haunting Northview.”

Photo courtesy of Carol Keahey

Carol Keahey

After 17 years of being a manager in the cafeteria, Carol Keahey has decided it’s time to leave and take on new adventures and hobbies. Before coming to Northview, she was a manager at an elementary school, which she enjoyed, but left because high school proved to be a bigger challenge. She noticed the student body is much more mature and noticed many different changes within Northview during her time here. 

When she first started, the student body was much larger, originally having about 2,700 students enrolled, and the cafeteria started out very busy. Over time she has seen many different students and met many different people, who she will miss very much.

“We have a wonderful staff that runs this kitchen, we have a wonderful administration, who has always been so supportive of our cafeteria, and they’ve always been so cooperative,” Keahey said. “I will miss many students as well, even if I don’t know their names.”

The fact that she won’t be returning as a manager saddens her, but she’ll still be able to see the people who she will miss as a visitor. She’s starting to prepare herself for the change of routine when school starts next year, going from waking up early in the morning to get to school, to not having to go to school anymore.

“I’ll probably be throwing on my clothes at 5:30 in the morning, and go ‘Oh. I don’t have anywhere to go’,” Keahey said. 

In her future, she plans on helping keep cemeteries clean, by cleaning tombstones and keeping them polished. She finds them very peaceful and relaxing, and helping to maintain the area has been something she’s wanted to do for a very long time. 

During her time at Northview, she’s learned that small incidents shouldn’t be turned into anything bigger, and not to take anything too seriously. She has also learned many things about cooperation, that listening to a coworker is just as important as speaking a personal idea.

“To get things done, you have to listen, as well as speak. I’m going to take that with me as I approach retirement,” Keahey said.

In addition to the lessons she’s learned, she’s also taking some good memories with her. She recalls many happy times with the staff, as well as students. From fun times in the kitchen to great conversations with students, Keahey has had a great time at Northview and is excited for what is ahead of her.

Each teacher is unique and has contributed to Northview in their own way. They are all going their separate ways but will always remember Northview, from the students to the faculty. We will all remember them as well and wish them well as they continue with their lives.