John Burton is returning to Wadsworth High School to fill the open biology teacher position after students have been left with a substitute for the last two weeks.

Prior to Burton coming back, the students were left with a packet made by Bree McNeill, their previously designated teacher.

“So a week before school started I moved my room and had to totally redo all of my lessons and get everything prepped, so it was a little bit of a crazy start to the year,” McNeill said. “And then we had a sub over there so I was also planning sub plans for them [the honors biology students].”

Burton retired from Wadsworth High School, as a science teacher five years ago, but he continued to keep connected with WHS as a coach for girls varsity track and field. 

Burton was contacted by the school and asked to come back as a long-term substitute, nine months, for three honors biology classes. He is excited to get back into the classroom and that he enjoys being able to reconnect with his former colleagues.

“I view it as an opportunity to get back into the classroom and also an opportunity to serve the school system that has been fantastic to me,” Burton said.  “And I like to teach, I love to teach, so again the opportunity to get back into the classroom. ” 

Burton said that he feels that coming back is like riding a bike and that he’s glad to be around students again. But when he came in he had to get to work, his students were without a teacher for about two weeks. He asked the class what they did not know and what they wanted to know more about.

Burton is adjusting to returning to the classroom.

“[There were] a few bumps just getting going,” Burton said. “I know like the first day was not rough but just kind of plugging into what had been done so I changed directions to kind of get back into what I’m familiar with in terms of the track we follow in biology.”