Mrs. GrossEmily Oberlender

Family consumer science teacher Mrs. Linda Gross has been educating Southern Lehigh students for her entire teaching career, which reaches back to January 1980. Recently, she decided to retire.

“I think I’m ready to explore other avenues in life,” Mrs. Gross said.

Mrs. Gross plans on spending her retirement babysitting her grandson, Emerson, taking up yoga, and volunteering at elementary schools in inner cities.

While she is looking forward to upcoming adventures, Mrs. Gross does admit the decision was bittersweet.

“[I’m going to miss] the interaction with the students,” she said. “I’ve also made some life long friends through the faculty. Weddings, the birth of our children, deaths of loved ones, we’ve been through it all together.”

Mrs. Gross acknowledged that “thirty six years is a long time to do anything,” remembering one of her sweetest Southern Lehigh memories.

“I had a former student come back to visit. He brought his fiance, and intentionally made the trip for her to meet me,” she said. “When he introduced us, he said that what I taught him through the class made him able to be in healthy relationships. To me, that was the ultimate compliment.”

Mrs. Gross wants to remind students of the importance of living each day you are given, and enjoying the friends and family you have.

“The quality of life is about the relationships, not the things, you have,” she said.

To her fellow staff members, Mrs. Gross wants to reinforce what being a teacher is all about.

“The job always has to be about the students,” she said. “It’s about making them better than they were when they came in.”

Though Mrs. Gross’s retirement marks a new chapter of her life, she claims she will “absolutely visit” and never forget the students and staff which made her 36 teaching years memorable.

Mr. Roncolato

Emily Oberlender

He has coached 45 individual seasons among four different sports in the “26.6 years” of being a Southern Lehigh physical education, drivers ed, and health teacher. Mr. Douglas Roncolato has been an educator for 35 years in total and says all in all, the most enjoyable aspect of his career comes down to the students.

“[The best part of teaching is the] satisfaction from seeing students succeed,” Mr. Roncolato said.

While at Southern Lehigh, Mr. Roncolato has gained popularity from being the SADD adviser. Along with teaching and watching over SADD, he has been a recognized and dedicated coach.

“I have calculated that I’ve spent 800 hours of my adult life on buses with my teams,” Mr. Roncolato said. “There’s been a lot of good memories and sore butts.”

Mr. Roncolato has already planned out his retirement, noting that he is not leaving Southern Lehigh for good.

“I’m going to continue to coach,” he said. “Most of my best memories come from coaching.”

Mr. Roncolato also plans to “just keep busy with projects around the house,” as well as spend time with his four grandchildren.

“It’s time to enjoy more time with family, especially my grandchildren,” he said. “My son’s sons are three and five, and my daughter’s daughters are nine and eleven.”

Due to Mr. Roncolato’s passion for teaching, he plans to substitute at Southern Lehigh as much as he can. This will allow him to do what he loves as well as reunite with his peers.

“I’m definitely going to miss the daily interaction with my peers and students,” he said.

Mr. Roncolato wants to remind students of the important values in life, such as individuality and appreciation.

“Give it your best and be yourself, because there is no other you,” he said. “Pay attention to the details, and enjoy life now, because it only gets rougher.”

Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider

One word automatically pops into Mrs. Anne Sikorski-Schneider’s head when thinking about Southern Lehigh: family. The art teacher announced that she will be retiring this year after the school board added a clause in the teacher’s contract penalizing them if they refuse to retire after a certain about of time.

“I had no plans on leaving, and I don’t want to retire, but there’s a clause in the teacher’s contract that says if we stay, we lose 20 percent of the money that goes to our health care,” Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider said. “After three years past our ‘recommended retirement,’ it goes up to 40 percent. It wasn’t my choice [to retire].”

Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider, who has been teaching art at Southern Lehigh for “35 plus years,” says her students are her main priority.

“I won’t let [the students] quit, so I love to see them grow,” she said. “I learn from them everyday. I’m definitely going to miss them.”

Her encouraging teaching style has paid off. Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider still remembers some of the students she impacted.

“There was a student who started as a freshman with poor grades, but he could draw beautifully. I told him that if he could draw like that, he should be getting straight ‘A’s, because only brilliant people can draw beautifully. We ended up talking a lot,” she said. “By his senior year, he had all ‘A’s and ‘B’s. He ended up getting a full ride to Rhode Island School of Design, which is the top art school in the nation.”

Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider plans to spend her retirement going with the flow and enjoying life as it comes.

“I’m going to paint, travel, and see where life takes me,” she said.

To current and future Southern Lehigh students, Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider wants to leave behind advice.

“You may think teachers don’t know anything, but they know a lot,” she said. “Respect teachers, and try to get as much from them. Don’t fight them. They wouldn’t be a teacher if they didn’t know something.

To teachers, Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider has a similar message.

“They should love what they’re doing, and respect the students,” she said.

When asked whether or not she would be visiting, Mrs. Sikorski-Schneider nodded.

“I may be retiring, but I’m not leaving,” she said. “Southern Lehigh will always be my family.”

Ms. Smiley

Emily Oberlender

Chemistry teacher Ms. Patricia Smiley cannot deny why she adores teaching.

“I enjoy working with all the unique individuals that are students,” Mrs. Smiley said. “They certainly keep me on my toes, and keep me feeling young.”

While her passion is still as strong as it was 19 years ago when she started working at Southern Lehigh, a “perfect storm of circumstances” has resulted in her decision to retire.

“My husband is retiring this year as well, so we’ll be able to travel and go hiking,” she said. “I’ll have time to do all of those things that I had no time for. I can read more books, and I also like to knit.”

Ms. Smiley cherishes her experiences at Southern Lehigh, pointing out one of her fondest memories.

“I had two students go onto the United States National Chemistry Olympiad,” she said. “It was exciting.”

Mrs. Smiley wants to remind students of the copious opportunities at Southern Lehigh, as well as encourage them to utilize the school’s resources.

“Students should take advantage of all that Southern Lehigh has to offer,” she said.

Ms. Smiley will miss working with her colleagues the most, and leaves them a with few wise words.

“Enjoy the students,” she said. “They have so much to offer.”

Mr. Crouse

Emily Oberlender

Mr. Carl Crouse was hired by Southern Lehigh as a guidance counselor roughly 43 years ago, making him the retiree with the most seniority at Southern Lehigh.

“I’ve been at Southern Lehigh since 1973, which was the year I graduated from college,” Mr. Crouse said.

Throughout his 43 years, Mr. Crouse’s favorite aspect of the job has remained the same.

“The students have been the best part of my job,” he said. “I think that’s why people should go into teaching. It should be because they like working with kids.”

They are also going to be what he misses the most.

“I’m really going to miss the students,” Crouse said, “and of course the people that I directly work with.”

Mr. Crouse made the decision to retire due to controversy surrounding teacher retirement funding.

“What really made me decide to retire were the political issues regarding teacher retirement funding. It’s been an ongoing battle in Harrisburg,” he said. “I was planning on working at least one more year, but the uncertainty in Harrisburg is getting worse.”

Now that his decision has been made, Mr. Crouse intends to focus on his retirement plans.

“Well [my plans] definitely include some travel. I like to fish, hunt, and I have a house where things have to get fixed,” he said. “I like doing that.”

While Mr. Crouse is looking forward to be able to “do what [he] wants,” he does admit retiring has challenges.

“I’m going to have to be making the adjustment of not going into work everyday,” he said.

In 1997, Mr. Crouse became the head rifle coach. Because he has “been with the team ever since,” he plans on continuing to support the team through his retirement as assistant rifle coach.

As a guidance counselor, it only makes sense that Mr. Crouse leaves Southern Lehigh with some guiding words of wisdom. To teachers, he advises to “Love what you do, or leave it.” In terms of students, he has a more philosophical approach.

“A question I will always ask students is, ‘What do you do here?’ You only get four years of high school, only four years of this time of your life,” Mr. Crouse said. “Find some way to connect to your school. Do something here other than just go to class. It gives students a chance to see teachers as other people. Remember, we’re people too.”