BY CHRIS STEELE

After many years of teaching, it is time for Mr. Goddard to step down from his teaching position at Wadsworth High School. Goddard, who has taught science at Wadsworth for 34 years, will be retiring at the end of the 2019 school year. Goddard was eligible to retire eight years ago, but instead he decided to wait until now when he felt the timing was right.

“My wife and I are trying to retire close together,” Goddard said. “She is almost finished at Smucker’s, so it’s working out pretty well.”

Goddard knew from a young age that he wanted to go into teaching as a career and follow in his family’s footsteps.

“My father was a teacher for 42 years, and he loved his job,” Goddard said. “I knew I wasn’t going to get rich, but I knew that was the route I wanted to go after my freshmen year of college.”

Goddard knows to this day that he made the right decision when he chose to become an educator.

“Going into it I knew the salary wasn’t great,” Goddard expressed. “The students are what make me want to come in everyday and continue to do this.”

Another supreme highlight of his teaching career has been the experiences he has had being a coach.

“I had the pleasure to coach the baseball team here for 17 years and it was an absolute privilege to spend my time coaching such great men.”

Following his wife’s retirement, the two of them would like to move down to Florida for January and February to spend time with their son.

Although Goddard is retiring from teaching, he is not ready to ditch teaching overall. After this year, he plans to begin subbing for Cloverleaf, Highland, and Wadsworth. On top of the subbing job, he will also have a job at Pine Valley Golf Club in Wadsworth and will continue to coach baseball at Pinnacle Sports in Medina.

Finishing near the top of seniority at Wadsworth high school, Goddard is proud of everything he has accomplished through his time here. Many students will miss Mr. Goddard when the year comes to an end, and will forever be impacted by his memorable teaching methods.