From Friends to Uncles to Grandpas, Retiring Dobbs Teachers Reflect on their Careers

As the school year winds down, some long-familiar faces in the Dobbs Ferry School District will close their classroom doors for the last time after long and distinguished careers. Two of these retirees are Bob Mallin, a high school science teacher who has been teaching in Dobbs Ferry for 37 years, and Ed Krzos, a middle school and high school music teacher who has served the students for 40 years. Both of these men have seen Dobbs Ferry grow, both of them have experienced a sea-change in the lives of their students, and both of them have taught numerous children of former students.

Mallin started teaching in the Dobbs Ferry Middle School, but has spent the last 25 years at the High School teaching physics and chemistry. He has always been drawn to the physical sciences. "I like the physical sciences more than I like the biological sciences, they're more compelling in my thinking," he said. "There's a lot of math involved which I like… and I like the abstract concepts."

Krzos was similarly drawn to his area of expertise, music. Arriving in the District in 1970 fresh from graduating NYU, he would go on to direct 80 Middle School chorus concerts, 30 in the High School. He was the musical director for 25 shows, has taught guitar, music theory, and has chaired 13 talent shows. Asked what he'll miss most after retiring, Krzos didn't hesitate. "Working with the kids that are really motivated," he said. "Which is not all of them, but the ones that are--those are the ones I'll miss."

Mallin will also miss the camaraderie with the children, as well as with the other staff members he's worked with for so long, and has long enjoyed exposing his students to the abstract concepts of science that he likes so much. "I think [the students] are open to them, the question is whether they're willing to do the work because more is being demanded of them now," he said. "I think we're overworking them. You have a small group you can never overwork because they're just sponges. The other group, I think so much is being demanded of them, they're losing some of their childhood."

Krzos echoed Mallin's observation when asked about the changes in the students over the course of his career. "The biggest thing I can think of is kids years ago were not involved in 50 things at the same time, so they were more focused on what you were working on," he said. "The kids are spread more thinly, I think."

In general, however, both Mallin and Krzos feel that the students they're teaching in 2010 are similar to the ones they taught 30-plus years ago. "They're basically the same,"Mallin said. "You'll have the students trying to get away with something, and the students that work hard, and you have the group in the middle. And those are the ones you can sway, the ones in the middle."

Krzos pointed to a recent High School concert he directed where the students chose to do an all-Beatles concert, patterning it after a similar concert done by the previous generation in 1979. "It was the kids' suggestion to do it, so it shows not that much has changed. It was their suggestion in '79; it was their suggestion this year."

Asked to look back at their careers, the two teachers reflected on what sort of teacher they feel, and hope, they've been. Mallin took pride in how he's been able to share his love of the physical sciences with his students. "I think being able to explain [scientific] things at a simple level, it takes work to do that," he said. "I think I've done it."

Krzos also hoped he had been able to reach his students. "Who am I as a music teacher?" he echoed. "I'm a music teacher that's best working with kids who want to do what I can offer them."

Being in the same school district for 37 or 40 years means taking on different roles, depending on the time, circumstance, and need. Krzos, for instance, was president of the Teacher's Union for 14 years and taught varsity golf for eight years. But it all comes down to how a teacher relates to a student. Krzos explained how his relationship with the children fundamentally evolved over the years. "You're their friend at one age level; you're their uncle at another age level, and you're their grandpa at another age level. So they respond to you differently, just innately."

Mallin explained how being a teacher, and a recognizable face in the community, doesn't stop at the doors of the school or even with retirement. "Once in a while you'll come across somebody in a store or an airport. You have to be on your good behavior at all times. You never know who you'll run into."