By Yovanny M Staff Writer
Looking forward to the next challenge in her life, ELD teacher Ms.Walson sadly left on Wednesday May 3rd after being at Galileo for 10 years. Ms. Walson started off as a student teacher at Galileo in 2013, she then got a job here,teaching newcomers english language learners for the summer. During her time she saw that an ELD position opened up in the ELD department and she got that position in 2014, and she has been here ever since, which included being the ELD Department Head for the last 6 years.
Ms. Walson decided to end her teaching career and in order to move onto working at a tech company. On the personal side, Ms. Walson and her husband are ready to start a family, and with her and her husband living in the East Bay it has been challenging for her to commute to San Francisco everyday.
Numerous teachers are saddened by the news that Ms. Walson is leaving. Ms. Walson’s fellow ELD Teacher Ms.Donaque said, “I am so happy for her (Ms. Walson), she is moving onto a new chapter, but I do feel sad that I won’t be able to see her everyday.”
For Ms.Donahue, she feels extra sad at Ms.Walson leaving because she felt that they had become more than just “colleagues”, they considered each other friends. Ms. Donahue’s favorite memory of Ms.Walson was when she first came to Galileo and was brand new to teaching high school, she had become her new friend and showed her everything, like who to talk to if she needed anything, and she showed her how to be comfortable here.
ELD teacher Mr. Fanning also said, “I am going to miss her, I think she was an important part of Galileo, and her absence is a loss to the school, but at the same time I’m happy she will be doing something new that she’s excited about.”
Ms. Walson’s favorite memory at Galileo was being in class everyday with her students, everyday they were laughing, and having a good time. She really enjoyed being a teacher here and has really enjoyed working with English language learners. “It’s been super fun and I will miss it a lot,” says Ms. Walson.
Her experience teaching at Galileo has been a rollercoaster, with both amazing and not so amazing moments, but she loved having teachers help her with these moments. Some teachers she will remember the most will be (retired teacher) Ms. Golata and English teacher Ms.Peters, who were her mentors when she first got here, saying, “They taught me everything they know.”
Ms. Walson hopes that her students remember her as a supportive person and someone who wanted what was best for them. What she enjoyed the most about teaching newcomers was seeing them grow their English skills.
