Thank you, Dr. Wood!

Thank you Dr. Wood for everything you have done throughout the time you have been with us. We wish you the best and cannot wait to see you move on to the next big step in your life as you move forward and continue to do amazing things. You have made such an impact in the lives of us all and have left a long lasting impression and an amazing legacy behind. Thank you and we will miss you!

Q. How did you know it was time to retire? 

A. “I had a very good year, excellent students, I felt like we had moved beyond the pandemic years. I was offered the opportunity to teach a couple of courses in higher ed, and I thought this would be a good time to make the move to higher ed. I wanted to take on a new role as a professor at the college level and supervising student teachers.”

Q. What are you most looking forward to now that you have free time? Have you ever thought about volunteering your time?

A. “I volunteer a lot for my church, I belong to the Greek Orthodox Parish in Cranston. I will have more free time because I won’t have to be here 5 days a week at 7:00am. So, I actually thought about volunteering in elementary school classrooms and reading to younger students because I love reading. I love to be outdoors, so I might do something like helping with trail maintenance. I already try to keep my own little road where I live, in Charlestown, clean. I do some trash pickup, so I might do things like that.”

A. How do you think this new step in your career is going to be different from what you have already experienced here at Toll Gate?

Q. “Well, I’ll be dealing with older students who have an idea of where they’re headed in life. They will already have been in the teacher-ed program. I will be having students who will be just about ready to student-teach. That will be interesting. I’ll be teaching Social Studies methods, rather than teaching the content of a social studies course. It will be different.”

A. What was your teaching experience here like? Not only when you were teaching and educating but also the social aspect with all of your fellow co-workers. How was that for you?

Q. “It’s been excellent. I feel very fortunate for the career that I’ve had in Warwick Public Schools no matter where it was, whether it was at Winman Junior High School, or Gorton Junior High and back to Winman and Toll Gate. It has been a wonderful experience and I’m probably going to really miss my colleagues and friends that I have made over the years.”

A. What advice would you give to someone who is about to move on to the next step and leave all of what they already are familiar with behind?

Q. “I don’t know if I can give any advice other than to say that I do think it’s important that you leave on a high note and that’s why I chose to leave now, I didn’t want to get to the point where I felt that I wasn’t doing a good job or that I wasn’t welcome or even that I wasn’t an effective educator, because students need a quality educator in the classroom.

A. How do you feel now that retirement has arrived? Excited, anxious, happy, relieved, etc.?

Q. “ I feel very excited but also a little sad because I am going to miss the interactions with the students. I’ve had wonderful students over the years. I can think of so many that have really impressed me, who were outstanding students. That part I am going to miss. And I’m going to miss my colleagues.”

A. I know you had many responsibilities around the school and you helped out a lot. Who do you think is going to be able to take over those responsibilities now?

Q. Everyone contributes. It really is a team effort. I’m just one little cog in a wheel. Someone else will pick up some of the duties that I had. There will be a new department head chair, who will be Mr. McNamara. I’m sure he will do an awesome job. I am going to give him as much advice as I can, but he’s going to craft this position into something that works for him, and it’s going to be good for the department.

A. Is there anything you want to say to your former students and former co-workers?

Q. “First and foremost, I will miss you and I wish everyone the best. I thank my students and colleagues for many years. I feel very fortunate to have had many wonderful experiences over the years and interactions with students and other faculty and staff, everyone has been awesome. I’m gonna miss everyone!”