Students came back from Winter Break only to find that their math teachers had been replaced with subs.

Two Sahuaro math teachers left at the end of first semester.  Remember that one guy who dressed up as a Coca-Cola can for Halloween? That would be none other than Mr.Van Gelder. He was a Geometry teacher at Sahuaro and one of the two teachers who are sadly no longer a part of the Cougar team.  His reason? To teach online school. Students say the reason he wanted to do this was because he felt like he needed to be home more often. By teaching online school, Mr.Van Gelder is able to be home more and spend more time with his family.

The second teacher is Mr. Davis. Also a mathematics teacher, Mr. Davis worked at Sahuaro for 34 years and was affectionately compared to Gru. He told his classes about his planned retirement on the very last day of the semester, probably because he didn’t want a fuss or an article in The Paper Cut, but we’re doing one anyway!

“Mr. Davis just retired. He’d been working for so long, just wanted a break. He said he was going out to Texas to be back with his family. He wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren,” said Mr. Mack, one of the staff here at Sahuaro.

Both teachers felt they wanted more quality family time.

Even so, students are not happy of this outcome. Sophomore Olivia Peterson, who happened to be in Mr.Van Gelder’s class said, “It kinda sucks. They really don’t know how to teach you what’s in the work packets, and so you’re just kinda sitting in class waiting for someone to teach you how to do it. But you won’t get it because you DON’T have a math teacher.” Olivia thinks this has definitely affected her learning.

Adonai Moll is another student who is caught up in this lack-of-teacher fiasco. He also had Van Gelder: “The teacher was funny, I’m pretty sad he had to go.” Although both students’ teachers have gone, they also both plan on staying in their classes, even if they are teacher-less.

“We get a lot more free-time, so :)”  said, Olivia Peterson.

As for who’s teaching those classes right now? There are just subs. The school has yet to find their new math teachers since the teachers left so suddenly. What do you think? Will we be able to find a teacher in time or are students just going to have to have a sub for the rest of the semester?