This beloved teacher never wanted to retire — until the pandemic came along
Amy Scott always joked that she would teach until she dropped dead in the classroom.
She retired early on Friday because she feared her quip could become reality.
If the novel coronavirus didn’t do her in, the “dread of such a lonely isolated school teaching environment,” as she put it, and “stilted” distance learning would.
For the last two decades, Scott taught a capstone course called Theory of Knowledge for seniors in the International Baccalaureate program at Coral Reef Senior High. The course was part philosophy, part critical thinking and drew from all subjects. She challenged the bright minds before her and tested their arguments.
Scott’s teaching style earned her comparisons to Robin Williams’ character in “Dead Poets Society” and, like Professor Keating, she had created a cult following. Scores of students still keep in touch years after graduation primarily through her active Facebook page. They keep dated journals with Scott’s notes in the margins and treasure their copies of Elysium, the award-winning literary and art magazine she sponsored.
After 44 1/2 years in the classroom, Scott typed out a long note announcing the news to her 135 students on their last day of class. Her coveted recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies in the world, the kind she used to bribe students, was attached. She posted a similar magnum opus for her Facebook fans.
“It’s been a grand ride but I didn’t want to end it with a year of disengagement, of washing hands, of no activities or sports for the children,” she said. “It takes no bravery to do something you love every day, and I didn’t have to work one day in my life.”
Scott gave a quote to the paper about Wednesday’s extraordinary last day of school, and how she never thought she’d end her career like this: “It just felt like no closure. I think that’s the tragedy of the whole year. The year didn’t end with a bang, it ended with a whimper.”
IMPROMPTU RETIREMENT PARTY
The Class of 2020 wasn’t about to let her go without a proper sendoff. So the next day, 20 of her students surprised her with a driveby parade. She was showered with posters, flowers and letters.
“Mrs. Scott isn’t like the typical teacher, and the class isn’t like the typical class,” said Eloise Bourgoignie, 18, who organized the gesture. “Forty-five years of teaching shouldn’t go unrecognized. I just thought this was the perfect idea to do that, and it was.”
Scott agonized over her decision to quit. Retiring one year early would cost her $60,000. But she’s turning 70 this year, and it wasn’t worth her health and happiness. Neither was it worth what learning turned into during the pandemic: impersonal and disengaging. It’s not that she couldn’t adapt to the technology; she’s won technology teacher of the year.
Scott knows a vaccine or herd immunity won’t work by this fall. She couldn’t fathom another year of teaching socratic work to an array of muted boxes on a screen.
“It would also break my heart to not remember school the way I remembered it, so present, so engaging,” she said.
CREATIVE GUEST LECTURERS
In her last act, Scott created a “visiting professor” series for her students. She corralled her network of former students — now doctors, artists, architects, Grammy award-winning jazz singers, ballet dancers, choreographers, actresses, game designers, geneticists, researchers, lawyers — into making live and recorded informational sessions and discussions for her current students.
Susana Bejar talked about what it was like to work on the front lines of COVID-19 as an internal medicine doctor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
“What a leader she is in showing us by example what it is to take joy in her career,” Bejar, who graduated in 2004, wrote in an email. “Her high standards, genuine interest in our lives, and investment in training us to think for ourselves are the gifts of a wise and relentless educator. We are so fortunate to have learned from her, particularly at the age that we did.”
Scott left all the “good stuff” in her classroom for her successor. She had plans to travel in her retirement, but in the meantime she’ll paint, write and be an armchair activist.
She started her career in Miami-Dade advocating for black and brown students at Coral Gables Senior High, and that’s how she plans to start her time off.
“I am greatly encouraged by the activism of this new young generation, that they are going to turn the tide on the ugly strain of anti-democratic, racist policies in America today,” Scott said. “I think we’re going to do better.”