After first semester, Spanish teacher Meghann Thompson will no longer be at Liberty. Instead, she will travel to Panama to volunteer as a teacher with the Peace Corps.
The Peace Corps is an American organization, through which volunteers travel to third world countries, where they work in a variety of positions, like as educators and agricultural volunteers.
Thompson announced her plans to leave last year. She has wanted to join the Peace Corps since she was twenty but decided this was the right time in life for her to leave.
“I don’t have a house, I don’t have any kids, I don’t have a significant other,” Thompson said. “I have been teaching for five and a half years, and it was sort of getting to the point where okay, it’s now or never.”
Thompson will be teaching English to high school or college students. She is looking forward to experiencing life in a different country.
“I’m excited to get to know people in Panama and get to know about Panamanian culture and what’s going on in the government,” Thompson said. “I’m just excited for daily life in Panama.”
Although Thompson did not originally intend to return to Liberty, she decided to return when the school could not find another Spanish teacher last August.
Thompson’s students will have a substitute for second semester. She feels that her students will be able to adjust.
“I think it’s unusual to have a different teacher in a year-long class, but kids are resilient,” Thompson said.
Meanwhile, some students have mixed feelings. Some say that it may be a difficult transition for them.
“I’ve had Ms. Thompson for two years, and she’s really helped me on my Spanish journey. I’m sad that she is leaving,” sophomore Cedar Cunningham said.
The school district has not yet found another Spanish teacher for the second semester, but many students are confident that their learning will not be affected by shift in teachers.
“I don’t think Ms. Thompson leaving is going to really impact me,” sophomore Brenda Mata-Diaz said. “Life goes on. I’ll just have to be flexible and get used to a different teacher.”