School guidance councilor Mrs. Kathy Moser, English teacher Mr. Robert Beatty, and learning support teacher Ms. Lori Strayer are all retiring at the close of the 2016-2017 school year. Each of them has been a valued member of Red Lion's staff and they all leave behind a unique story for the high school to remember them by. Mrs. Moser By Helen Zeidman Editor-in-Chief Many students cannot wait to get out of high school. Graduation and finally leaving the education system behind is often the ultimate dream for upperclassmen and underclassmen alike. While others’ could not wait to get out, guidance counselor Mrs. Kathy Moser was willing to dedicate 40 years to Red Lion Area Senior High School and its students. “I’ve had a lot of wonderful experiences,” Moser said. “I have been blessed to have this job.” After decades of coaching, guiding, and encouraging students, Moser will retire from the school district at the end of the school year. Like leaving high school is anticipated and dreaded by students, the transition will be both happy and sad for Moser. “It’s going to be bittersweet. I will definitely miss contact with students and staff,” Moser said. “After 40 years, it is certainly time.” Moser’s career started with an invitation to interview for a physical education and health teacher position at the Red Lion Area Senior High School. Her job as a physical education teacher led into a desire to coach students off the field as well. So, Moser went back to college to get the education to become a guidance counselor. Since then, she has never looked back. As a counselor, it was her job to help students fulfill their dreams, whether that means walking across the graduation stage and never looking back, or continuing on the education pathway. “We’re here to serve our students,” she said. “I always try to help people out. You have to be a good listener, but you also have to want to help people.” With that mentality, she has been able to touch the lives of many students. In fact, there are a few teachers at the high school, including Mr. Cooley, who were Moser’s students once upon a time. Throughout the years, Moser learned to work with every kind of student and treat them as she would treat her own children. “I try and provide services like I would to my own daughters,” Moser said. “As I got older and wiser, with experience, it was easier to treat each student as my own child.” With her new routine, she wants to spend time with her six grandchildren and maybe get some housework done. Moser hopes that her legacy at Red Lion will be simple, but poignant for the students and staff. “I hope people remember I was a giver, that has made this such a wonderful experience for me,” she said. “I want to be remembered as someone who helped when people needed it.” Mr. Beatty By Nathan Wilson Staff Writer Robert James Beatty, English teacher at Red Lion for 31 years, has determined that this year will be his last year teaching. Mr. Beatty announced his retirement after he decided “It’s just time to go.” Mr. Beatty started a long history in Red Lion after his years at an oil rig in Texas and selling yellow pages ads out of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He said after all that, he decided to become a teacher and a coach, which he accomplished after attending Clarion University. Later, he got a job teaching in Florida. This was short lived as he only taught there for about three years. Mr. Beatty then came to teach and coach at Red Lion, where he coached for 10 years as assistant football coach and 23 years as head baseball coach. “An old man once told me that you can measure a teacher by how many students come back to visit him,” Mr. Beatty said. “I’d say I’ve had quite a lot come back to see me.” When faced with kids that cause trouble he said, “I try to speak to every student on an individual basis, and establish some sort of personal connection with them.” In his years coaching he won three football championships. The most exciting of all these games was against Dallastown in 1993 at the County Championship, where Red Lion came back and sealed the victory in the last quarter of the game, winning by only one touchdown. Although his coaching history in football is fantastic, Mr. Beatty believed his baseball record to be more so. Even though he only won one championship as a baseball coach, he has only missed Districts five out of 23 years. After achieving big goals at the high school, Mr. Beatty has even bigger aspirations for retirement. He plans to work on painting houses, woodworking, and go on adventures after retirement. When asked what adventures he would be going on he said “I’d like to walk across Scotland, go white water rafting, pheasant hunting in South Dakota, and travel to Italy.” Ms. Strayer
By Derek Etter Staff Writer She can be seen all around the school, evenly dispersed throughout classrooms and helping as much as possible. And after 28 years of teaching and involving herself in the lives of students, Ms. Lori Strayer is retiring from her teaching job at Red Lion. Strayer is involved in many different teaching services at the high school. Primarily working in the learning support department, she says that the Lincoln Intermediate Unit, which is the service for special education offered to school districts, is what placed her at Red Lion almost 30 years ago. “It’s challenging,” Strayer said of working in the department for learning support, “you must focus on every student that has their own needs.” Strayer certainly caters to whatever is in her students’ best interest. Another program that Ms. Strayer works for at Red Lion is a foster house for unwed mothers, Pinkney, which caters to young mothers raising children on their own in while staying in school. Many of the students that she helps even walk the halls at Red Lion. These students receive tutoring and emotional support from Strayer in and out of school. One important thing Strayer has observed was that she “sees how much they grow from the day they get here until they leave.” With two homebound care students by her side during her interview, helping her remember stories, it’s evident that her assistance in the lives of students is helpful and encouraging. And although her help has assisted so many young students’ lives, her retirement year comes from another place in her heart. “I want to help my daughter with student loans,” she said, “they pile up while she works as a zookeeper.” Strayer’s plans to retire only applies to Red Lion, as she will pursue a job in the postal service after this year. She has many hobbies she’d like to pursue, such as biking and kayaking, and in her future she sees a trip to the Dominican Republic. Clearly a lively spirit, when asked why, she said, “Because I can!” Also joining her on many vacations she says will be Mrs. Moser and Mrs. Krouse, two of her friends in the building. And although her teaching path may be done, Strayer has high hopes for more careers to pursue and people to care for. “After 35 years of being a teacher, I’ve fulfilled a dream,” she said, “and it’s time to pick up a new one.”
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