Ending the year on a bittersweet note, we have eight members of the Rock Bridge faculty leaving us. Erin Grady, Megan Halphin, April Sulze, Jeanne Lambson, Michelle Gerchen, April Beissenhurz, Stephanie Burks, and Megan Gabel, will not return with us for the 2015-2016 school year. As the last few days draw near, RBHS says a final goodbye to these wonderful faculty members.
The teachers have made great memories throughout their years with us at RBHS, so we’ve asked them to reminisce on them.What will you take away from your time at RB?
Halphin: I think  about  how much I’ve learned and grown as a teacher and as a coach, and i hope that coming out of Rock Bridge I’ll be a better teacher and a better coach at my new high school.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Halphin: I have a lot of great memories here, I think this year winning state [for girls basketball] is one of my favorite memories this year because we worked really really hard this season and it was really rewarding. The funniest moment i can remember was watching Golden Cow last year.
What will you miss about RB?
Halphin: I’ll miss the relationships I’ve built here, through coaching both basketball and soccer and all the classes that I’ve had; the kids and the community.
What will you take away from your time at RB?
Sulze: Rock Bridge is just one big family and that regardless if I am still teaching here or not, we are still a family and I am going to keeping in contact with them and visit them. It is going to be hard to move, but knowing that I still have them and still have that connection, it will make a big difference.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Sulze: My best memories are probably from  fun activities done in class with my students and just getting to know them, and telling stories. Those are my student wise my favorite memories. Colleague wise, I love the time spent outside of school and on the weekends, running together or going out to dinner together.
What will you miss about RB?
Sulze:I’ll miss my colleagues, the people I work with every day, and my students. But mostly I work with my best friends, and so I’ll miss them the most.
What will you take away from your time at RB?
Grady: I know a lot of students know about the whole “freedom with responsibility” ordeal and for me as a teacher and specially as a young teacher, that is something that has really impacted the way that i teach. So when i take it away, it means saying ‘yes’ to kids and giving the opportunity to try new things. To have new experiences, always siding with the kids, trying to help them out, and trying to let them find fun things at school. I think even going on to a new school, that is something I am going to try to do; give kids the freedom to have fun in school and try new things that they want to.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Grady: One of my  favorite memories of this year was probably Golden Cow. We got a bunch of teachers together to do a performance, and we actually ended up getting some of the kids from Zombie Defense League, (ZDL) involved in it too. We spent so much time practicing it and perfecting our dances and getting our music together. And then we got to perform it, with a whole bunch of other groups that did a fantastic job. It was just a really fun experience, I think it is one of those great events RB has that really brings people together, and it was for a really great cause too.
What will you miss about RB?
Grady: I will miss my students the most. My kids from last year when I was student-teaching and then my students from this year as my first year of teaching. You always remember the first class that you’ve had. I am so thankful that I still get to see my kids from last year, they always stop by and talk with me, so I am going to miss seeing them everyday and watching them play in sports and do other fun things around the school. They are a great group of kids.
 
What will you take away from your time at RB?
Burks: I’ll take friendships and a lot of memories… the people I’ve met and the kids I’ve been able to visit with.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Burks:Probably the piles of laptops! You just get so overwhelmed you just have to laugh. And at the end of the day, sometimes they’re piled so high that I have to stand on my tiptoes to look over and see the kids on the other side.
What will you miss about RB?
Burks: I will probably miss visiting with the students the most.
What will you take away from your time at RB?
Gerchen: Everything. I mean, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve experienced a lot, and the other teachers here are amazing and I’ve learned so much and so I’ll take every lesson I’ve learned and all of the love that I’ve gotten.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Gerchen: All my students. I’ve made some really awesome student-teacher relationships and you know, the kids are great and that’s the best part.
What will you miss about RB?
Gerchen:All my students. I’ve made some really awesome student-teacher relationships and you know, the kids are great and that’s the best part.
What will you take away from your time at RB?
Beissenhurz: I will never forget the power of “Freedom with Responsibility”. That’s something I will always believe in.
Funniest/Favorite memory at RB?
Beissenhurz: Oh man, that’s hard. I don’t think I can pick one single memory. My most favorite memories are those that involve laughing with my students. That’s the best part of my job.
What will you miss about RB?
Beissenhurz: That answer is easy. I’ll miss the people here. My students are wonderful- they’ve taught me so much in my time at RBHS. I’m also really lucky to have had the chance to work with such a great group of colleagues.Just as much as these staff members will miss the students, we will miss them as well. Thank you so much for all you have done.
By Savannah Singletary 
Photos by Cassi Viox