After 33 Years, Hopatcong Teacher to Retire

Longtime Hopatcong teacher Paula Goldman will retire this summer,

Goldman has taught for 33 years, spending time in Mendham, Hackettstown and Warren Hills. But the middle school computers teacher considered Hopatcong home, having joined the district in 1991.

Goldman sat down with Patch recently to discuss retirement and what's in store for the Mount Olive resident who said she decided on her birthday in March she would file away her lesson plans for good.

Goldman on what's next …
I'm going to rest. A lot of resting. I told my students that I was going to sit in my backyard and eat bonbons. They had to look it up on Google. "What's a bonbon?"

I'm not moving. I'll be staying in New Jersey, spending more time with my son and my grandkids.

Maybe I'll eventually look for part-time work. It's hard to work all these years and just stop. After I rest for a while, maybe after this summer I'll find a part-time job teaching children computers. I was also a college adjunct back in the 80s.

On teaching in Hopatcong …
I love it here. That's why I stayed so long. I could have retired when I was way younger. I really enjoyed teaching computers. But I've been here so long that one of the kids said to me, "When are you going to retire?" I said, "When everybody learns how to type. That's when I'm going to retire." I like what I do.

On retiring …
I was just ready. Yes, [Hopatcong teachers] are at the end of our three-year contract. But after 33 years or so [of teaching], I was just ready. But, then, realizing all that could be changing kind of made it final.