BY RYAN MERARD
After 40 years, Suzanne Butler, pottery teacher at CCHS, has retired. After 21 years of teaching at Nova Southeastern University, five years in New York and an additional 14 years at CCHS, she has decided to graduate from the education system.
Butler has been teaching art for most of her career. The classes she has instructed range from drawing to fine arts to 3D art. Her years as a teacher haven’t been solely dedicated to the fine arts but language arts are included in her resume as she also taught reading classes early on in her career.
“Art has always been a passion of mine,” Butler said. “Since I was a very little girl, if you put me in a room I would be the happiest with my paper and my crayons and my glue. Throw glitter in and I would be in heaven.”
More recently, she has focused on the art of pottery at CCHS, a class that is reserved for seniors.
Butler carried a large workload during her time at CCHS. Setting up the pottery room for her students 7:30 AM arrival required her to arrive at work around 6:15 AM. She began by emptying and loading two kilns and preparing clay for the students’ projects. The class can get messy at times, resulting in Butler occasionally have to mop the floor and checking tools to ensure they were still intact after use.
Butler has always had a passion for art since she was a child which is why she chose to pursue art education.
“Art has always been a passion of mine,” Butler said. “Since I was a very little girl, if you put me in a room I would be the happiest with my paper and my crayons and my glue. Throw glitter in and I would be in heaven.”
Butler feels that the time of her retirement was appropriate and is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life. Butler has many reasons for retiring at this time, one being that her husband is retiring around the same time. She believes that it would be convenient for her to retire with him.
“I’m sad that she is leaving,” senior Damien Forbing said. “I’ll miss her in pottery and her teaching us how to create good art, I wish she could finish the year off.”
“It will be tough retiring mid-year, but it’s the right time for me,” Butler said.
Whenever a teacher retires, coworkers and students may have mixed emotions about their departure, especially when it occurs in the middle of the school year. Many of Butler’s students are emotional about her retirement and would hope that could stay for the rest of the year.
“I’m sad that she is leaving,” senior Damien Forbing said. “I’ll miss her in pottery and her teaching us how to create good art, I wish she could finish the year off.”
For Butler, retiring mid-year may make this process a little tougher, but the thoughts of relaxation can help her cope with it. Now that she has retired she plans to spend a lot of time taking care of herself and her family. She has also considered volunteering to help the community.
“That first week of the second semester when all the students are back, I think that’s when it will really hit me,” Butler said. “I’m sure I’ll miss the students and my coworkers but there’s so much out there to do, I’ll eventually get over it.”
Photo by Kayla Florenco
