Teachers return from retirement to help students

Zian Mahfuz – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) this year welcomed back some familiar faculty faces. Teachers who once worked at LRHS and then retired return to teach once again.

The teachers were physics teacher Janet Kunka, Latin teacher Susan McDonald and Advanced Placement (AP) English teacher Celeste Smith.

Latin teacher Susan McDonald is back in the LRHS classroomMcDonald worked as the French and Latin teacher at LRHS from 2000 to 2014. She returned after the previous Latin teacher at the start of last year. She is filling the position while the school searches for a candidate to take her place.

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She came back because she had experience on the dynamics of LRHS and taught as a part-time teacher at a different school the previous year.

A few aspects of LRHS have changed for McDonald, such as the computer systems for the teachers and everyone wears school IDs.

“I missed teaching enthusiastic young people and working with my former colleagues,” Macdonald said.

Janet Kunka teacher physics at LRHS.Janet Kunka worked at LRHS for 10 years before retiring in 2014. She returned on November 2015 to teach for a year as a substitute.

She returned once again this year as a physics teacher. She was “excited and flattered” when asked to return. She adds she “will miss Lakewood Ranch High when I retire again.”

She is happy to work with friends and familiar faces. She has enjoyed her return but is ready to get back to the retired life.

Smith started at LRHS when it opened in 1998 and left in 2006.

Celeste Smth came out of retirement to help LRHS AP students.During her time in LRHS she preached to her student to do something uncomfortable every day. She realized she was not practicing what she preached. Working at LRHS made her happy and comfortable during her time here but she needed to experience something new. She later transferred to Braden River, where she knew no one.

She returned because she understood the pressure the AP students would face with no teacher and with the upcoming exam. She wanted to help any way she could.

Smith explained, “The Ranch and the people here have been like family to me; I owe them a debt that I can never repay. Never. My coming back s like coming home, and I have not regretted the decision I made to return even once.

“Since my departure, LRHS has only gotten better. There is an increased pride, an attention to tradition, a general sense of what it means to be a Mustang that has only grown with time,” said Smith.

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