Curtain closes as Mrs. Goodwin retires

Mrs. Goodwin, the chorus teacher at Airport High School, is retiring due to her time in the TERI program ending. Teachers who are in this program can teach a couple of years past the normal retirement time but after they complete those years, they are done with their teaching career.

Mrs. Goodwin has been a part of chorus since her 7th grade year at Fulmer Middle School. She said, ”My inspiration to join chorus was my musical family.” After graduating from Airport High School and then from college, she decided to start teaching chorus. She said, ”My biggest influence was her chorus teacher.”

“I try to have a family atmosphere in my classroom,” said Mrs. Goodwin.

According to Jasmin Denny and Alaisha Gardner, seniors at Airport High School who have been in chorus with Mrs. Goodwin all 4 years of high school,“I knew that I could come here to get away from everybody because this is like a home to me.”

Throughout her teaching career, she accomplished many things. Her biggest accomplishment was “all the lives [she] touched through music and all the lifelong friendships [she] made.”

According to Liana Wiley, a freshman at Airport High School, "Chorus has really opened my eyes and helped me with my anxiety and confidence.”

Mrs. Goodwin has really touched the lives of all of her chorus students.

Alaisha said that Mrs. Goodwin inspired her to “be more generous” and to “be true to [herself].” Liana said that Mrs. Goodwin taught her “to accept everybody for who they are and what they do.”

One mistake a lot of people make is thinking that chorus is an easy class because it's not. Jasmin Denny said,“Don't think [chorus] is an easy class; it's a family thing.”

“I just love what I do,” said Mrs. Goodwin.

As the school year ends, Mrs. Goodwin is planning more and more for retirement. She said,”I plan to continue working at my church job and travel when my husband can and just relax.”

She said that if you are interested in becoming a chorus teacher, ”...make sure you have a good musical background, love your students and when times are rough, think about good times.”

Even though Mrs. Goodwin’s teaching career has come to an end, she will continue to touch many more lives and leave a long lasting legacy at Airport.

Her last concert with her students was on Thursday May 11, 2017. Her students gave it their all to show her how much they love her.

If you interested in joining chorus next year or just learning about chorus, see Mrs. Goodwin in the chorus room located near the front office.