As the 2018-2019 school year comes to an end, Wilde Lake will be saying farewell to more than ten long-term, beloved staff members.

Mr. Fairies, Ms. Koshy, Ms. Kipping, Ms. Martucci, Ms. Bullock, Ms. Carpenter, Mr. Crouse, Ms. Busso, Ms. Pashigian, and Ms. Read will all be leaving Wilde Lake to pursue new opportunities. The list, however, may become longer over the summer, which is when teachers have to announce their departures.

Mr. Wilson, who has been the principal at Wilde Lake for two years, also plans on retiring this year, after having worked in the Howard County school system for 31 years.  He first became a member of the Wilde Lake staff over three decades ago, though later left to work at other Howard County schools.

“I love Wilde Lake more than any other place I’ve worked, but I have to keep reminding myself that family is always more important than a job and right now my family needs me,” said Mr. Wilson.

“I’ll miss that Mr. Wilson has energy and positivity every day,” said junior Penelope Choi.

Mr. Wilson said he’ll miss his time at The Lake, and feels his time working here was a “blessing beyond words.”

Ms. Leonard, having previously worked at Wilde Lake as a social studies teacher and assistant principal, will be assuming the role of principal in July.

Although many teachers are leaving, their motivations for doing so vary. Science teacher of four years, Ms. Kipping, said, “Everyone’s leaving for different reasons; people are retiring, people are moving, people have new opportunities.” For example, some teachers, like Ms.Busso, are retiring. Others, like Ms. Kipping, are planning on pursuing new jobs as teachers, and Ms. Koshy and Ms. Read are taking up new positions in education, outside of teaching. Although these teachers are excited to pursue new horizons, they express bitter sweetness towards the prospect of leaving Wilde Lake.

Mr. Fairies has been a math teacher at Wilde Lake for the past 14 years, and is planning on continuing teaching in Virginia Beach because of movement in his wife’s job. He’ll miss the diverse body of student’s he’s felt privileged to work with, and the community he has grown to know over the past 14 years.

Ms. Koshy, who’s also a math teacher, said, “I’ll miss all the wonderful relationships I’ve built… and the funny, silly stories students always seem to have.”

Junior Ananya Chand feels like Wilde Lake will never be quite the same as favorite teachers depart. “We’ll adapt,” she said, “but the school will feel a little more empty without them.”