Slowly but surely, every person gets there. You go to college and get a degree. You find a job. You work year after year, and then all of the sudden, you’ve made it–retirement.

As this school year draws to a close, three teachers say goodbye to South for the last time: English teacher Ted Faulhaber, band director Christopher Becker, and science teacher Mark Manders.

Ted Faulhaber has been a teacher for 25 years, 19 of those years at South. In that time, he has taught everything from English II and III to Photojournalism to Mythology.

“I love when I see a student truly get excited about literature,” Faulhaber said.

His retirement along with his daughter senior Andrea Faulhaber’s graduation marks the end of an era.

“There has been a Faulhaber in this building ever since it opened except for one year.  That ends in May. It has been great having my two kids go to school here,” Faulhaber said.

South has been a positive work environment, Faulhaber said, and it has given him many positive, unforgettable memories.

“The most memorable thing was something [my son] did as a freshman. I was in Mr. Trost’s dunking booth for Homecoming. Mr. Rhodes gave Mitchell [Faulhaber] a dollar and he dropped me, the little punk,” Faulhaber said.

With such a wide range of curriculum, Faulhaber has taught many students over the years. Junior Kelsie Evans is in his English 3 class and has learned many things from him.

“The most important thing I have learned from him is that it is necessary to get work done on time because late is not acceptable,” Evans said.

Evans repeatedly said that Faulhaber is a funny, charismatic teacher.

“He tries to make jokes all the time, and he always says ‘sup, gang’ and the beginning of class. One time he did a rap called the Rappaccini Rap based off of the book we were reading. It was the funniest thing ever,” Evans said.

In his retirement, Faulhaber plans to revive his photography career, ride his bike more, and substitute teach.

Another retiring teacher, band director Christopher Becker, has been teaching for 40 years, 31 of which were at South. He has taught all band classes including symphonic, jazz, and marching band, piano, and music tech.

“What I enjoy most about teaching is seeing students light up and find a passion for something, when they get really excited about music,” Becker said.

In his retirement, Becker will continue teaching in his adjunct position at Washington University. He also plans to do guest conducting and judging.

The last teacher retiring this year, science teacher Mark Manders, has been teaching for 21 years, 18 of those at South. He has taught Forensics and Environmental Science but is most known for teaching freshman Biology 1.

Junior Claire Fairchild said that Manders is so funny and unorganized that his class is engaging.

“He is unorganized but still is great at teaching students. Sometimes he answers questions with more questions, but it helps people learn,” Fairchild said.

Manders said that he enjoys every aspect of teaching besides the grading.

“I love working with students, the give and take of learning new concepts and the struggles that accompany them. Also, the staff here is made up of some of the best teachers in the area, state and country,” Manders said.

Mander’s colleague, science teacher Julie Jauss, said that he will be missed among the students and teachers in the science wing.  

“I will miss Manders coming into my class everyday and riling up my students. The other day he told them all that food enters the body through the trachea, and we had a long discussion about it,” Jauss said.

In retirement, Manders plans to do all of the activities he enjoys most.

“I just purchased a lake house in Michigan and my family thrives around water sports so we will ski, sail, fish and just have fun on the water,” Manders said.