Cypress High School is lucky to have valuable teachers supporting students in their goals. These teachers have declared that they will be retiring at the end of 2024. For years, they have provided hard work and dedication and persevered through challenges and pushed Centurions to be the best versions of themselves.
Craig Herrick, a Social Science teacher, has taught at Cypress for 31 years. He has taught History for 30 years and in his first year he taught junior English. He also worked with his wife, Judy Herrick, who was in the English Department, as the Assistant Activities Director, a Yearbook adviser, and with Peer Counseling. His mentor throughout the years has always been his wife. When Herrick retires, he looks forward to “More flexibility in his time to read, travel, spend quality time with people, and to not be on anyone else’s schedule.” Although Herrick has been teaching for three decades, he says he does not have just one favorite memory because he has been blessed with many good memories over his career.
Kylie Madrid, a student at Cypress High School said, “I don’t think you fully understand the impact Mr. Herrick has on his students and coworkers. For 31 years he has made Cypress a warmer, more accepting place simply by being kind. He has forever altered the course of my life, and I don’t think I can truly express how grateful I am.”
English teacher Nancy Mitchell taught students for 30 years. She has taught courses including English I, English II, English III, World History, Dance, Art, Crafts, Health, English As A Second Language, Study Skills, and Theater I. Her fondest memory at Cypress High School was teaching The Miracle Worker about Helen Keller. Three activities were separated into “blind walking,” “blind taste,” and “blind smell.” “Blind walking” involved individual students who were blindfolded while their partner guided them through various activities. “Watching those students, I never laughed harder,” Mitchell said. Before beginning her career, Mitchell has been inspired the most by her father, as he influenced her to start her teaching career. She hopes to travel, spend time with her friends, build a massive garden, make tie-dye items, and care for her puppy. “I would hope that the students who had me as their art teacher appreciate the art class they took. I spent $1000 per year of my own money for nine years just to get enough supplies to keep my art classes going and to give a good, solid art experience to all my art students,” Mitchell said.
Mr. Payne, the Co-Department Chair of English, “I’m very happy for Ms. Mitchell. She is retiring and we’re definitely going to miss her in the English Department. She is an amazing teacher and has a heart of gold. She is highly creative and just brings her own unique perspective to literature and writing. I’m going to miss her big heart and her contributions to the English department. She’s very funny, she loves to laugh and she just has a way about her that is very original and she can’t be replaced. Hopefully she still comes around, because we want to see her at social functions. We wish her the best and want her to enjoy her retirement.”
Kevin Dwyer taught Math at all grade levels for his first 12 years at Cypress High School. He then transitioned to teaching Physics for 12 years. Finally, for the last six years, he has been teaching Engineering. His fondest memory at Cypress High School were the physics activities and events over the years – the boat races, egg drops, trip to Astrocamp, and Disney. Dwyer loved to see the student’s excitement when the projects came out to be successful. He has decided to retire as he has been teaching for three decades and also worked as an engineer for eight years. “I still love teaching but I wanted to retire while I was still young enough to enjoy retirement. My wife retired three years ago and she has shown me how to do it,” Dwyer said. Other interests he has besides teaching are reading, learning about new topics that interest him, traveling, and spectator sports. During his retirement, he hopes to look for new adventures, travel to new places, and get involved in new endeavors. Dwyer said, “I will stay involved at Cypress High School though! I am also looking forward to sleeping in every day!”
Aaron Gartner, a teacher at Cypress High School said, ”[Dwyer] makes whatever he teaches interesting. He cares about his students. He is “the GOAT” of teaching. As a teacher, you want to be someone like Mr. Dwyer. When I first came here, he helped me adjust and get used to the norms. I’m sad that he’s retiring, but I am happy for him because he gets to spend time with his wife and get to travel to England. I am sad for the school because we are losing an amazing teacher.”
Jon Lundberg has been at Cypress High School for 20 years, teaching Anatomy and Biology and coaching Wrestling. Lundberg has been coaching boys varsity, boys JV and frosh on top of girls varsity and JV. He has been coaching for 19 years and has been part of the district for 26 years. He said, “This has been a really good school. I like the demographics of the students. They generally want to learn and I think I found a perfect little area — the science department has been super. It has been a good experience.” For his retirement, Lundberg is looking forward to sleeping past 6 a.m., discovering new hobbies, and fixing his house and improving his health. “We were planning on staying in California for now, but we might move to another, more affordable state,” Lundberg said.
Trent Lebaron, a 11th grade wrestler at Cypress High School says Lundberg “has demonstrated commitment and has shown that he really cares about his wrestlers … he has always tried to push me further to do my best.”
As beloved teachers of Cypress High School head to retirement, they will be greatly missed.
