It seems as though the class of 2005 are not the only ones that are scheduled to leave LLHS. Gary and Shelly Oleson, some of the school’s best math teachers, are scheduled to retire at the end of this school year.

The Olesons have been in teaching for many years, most of those years together at LLHS. Mr. Oleson has taught for a total of 36 years and Mrs. Oleson follows him with 25 years. Throughout their careers they have experienced many things and have taught many students, probably even your parents!

Since the beginning of their teaching careers, however, both Olesons have taught many subjects and grades. Mr. Oleson has gone from elementary all the way through high school teaching while Mrs. Oleson has taught many subjects, mostly in the upper grade levels, particularly high school. Together, the Olesons have worked here in Los Lunas High for 25 years.

Currently, Mr. Oleson teaches both Honors and regular Geometry. As for Mrs. Oleson, she has stuck to Honors Algebra 2/ Trig and regular Algebra 2. Now, as the days count down, they continue to do what they really love, teaching.

Teaching has always been something important to the Olesons. Mrs. Oleson commented, “I love teaching. It’s been an incredible 25 years and I could not imagine doing anything else for so long.” To her, teaching has made her more patient and she has learned how to teach math more effectively because of the many years of understanding it. However, she has decided to retire because, while teaching may be fun and exciting, it can be exhausting for her. She feels that retirement will give her some time to recover and relax. She later added, “Maybe I’ll come back to teaching after a refreshing break.”

Teaching has also affected Mr. Oleson in many ways. It has served as an anchor in his life because it was the one thing he could count on in times of change. He admits that these last few days for him are full of mixed feelings. While he is happy for the things he will get to do, he will miss the students. The idea of retiring still comes as a shock to Mr. Oleson because it has been one of the things he has looked at for all of his life and it is now finally here. He, like to Mrs. Oleson, feels, “If I miss it [teaching] too much, I’ll do it again.” He has decided to retire because, “Mathematically it is the smart thing to do. Both chronologically and financially.” He later added that he is old enough and wants to relax and devote more time to other things he loves.

Nevertheless, teaching is something that has filled the Olesons with good and bad times. These times will give them memories on which to look back on.

For Mr. Oleson, one of the good times he experiences daily are the students walking into class at the beginning of a period. To him this is truly has a great feeling. Of course, he has had some times that were not so good. For one thing, he did not like waking up early in the morning for all those years of teaching. Also, one of his bad times included not feeling confident about teaching in his beginning year.

Mrs. Oleson, has also had her share of ups and downs. Some of her good times include her day to day teaching and knowing that students actually learned something in her class. However, she did face some bad times when she first started teaching. One thing was trying to teach discipline to students who did not behave. This, to her, was the hardest time in her career.

Although both Olesons have had separate good times, they will share the experience of teaching at the same school. Both felt that this aspect of their careers gave them many opportunities to discuss what is done in their classrooms. Mr. Oleson added, “Our interaction has made us better teachers.” As for Mrs. Oleson, she said that getting to carpool was also fun.

It is clear that the Olesons have also given memories to their students. They will definitely never be forgotten. Some of Mr. Oleson’s students will always remember him for his “Advanced Teaching Technique.” For those of you who do not know, this is a technique of “purposely” making mistakes when doing work on the board to see if students were paying attention. He explained, “…When a kid finds a mistake it raises their self-esteem and I am willing to sacrifice mine [self-esteem] for theirs.” One thing is for sure, he really did tests the students well and kept them entertained.

The Olesons have left a big space for the next math teachers to fill. They have taught many students over many years and have established a legacy of teaching. They will be truly missed and remembered by all that were taught by them and taught with them. Mr. Oleson said a few last words, “It’s been swell, I’m going to miss Los Lunas, the people I’ve been teaching with, and the energy the students brought into a class.”