After years of impactful contributions to the school, Latin teacher David Cox and 2nd grade teacher Laura Pigg close a chapter of their careers, leaving a long lasting legacy of hard work and dedication that ripples across the community for decades to come.
While faculty members can still remain connected with the school, on paper, their time working with the school is over. This balance between the excitement of retirement and the departure from the school creates mixed emotions.
“It’s a little bittersweet because I will miss my colleagues and my students, and I’ve enjoyed teaching,” Cox said. “I will miss that, but I’ll get over it. I feel like this is the right time.”
The environment at the school promotes a caring community, part of the reason why leaving the school can feel so hard. People all across the campus, from students and faculty members to parents and siblings, add to a vibrant career that adds so much to a teaching profession.
“The boys, the families, the colleagues — it has a real family feel to it,” Pigg said. “It’s never occurred to me to leave. I’ve loved getting to know the boys, getting to know their parents, conferencing with their parents, and then just working with my colleagues.”
Pigg had always wanted to become a teacher. Her whole life, she chased the career she dreamed of attaining. Decades later, she decided to retire, metaphorically passing a torch to a new generation of teachers.
“My mother talks about how when I was three years old, I used to line my dolls up against the wall and I would be their teacher and talk to them and act like I was teaching them,” Pigg said. “I don’t ever remember not wanting to be a teacher.”
Throughout his 17 years here, Cox has believed in the importance of the joy of learning. In this regard, fostering an interest in learning beyond the required school work can transform dulllessons into genuine passion.
“I always am sort of proudest when I can see kids say, ‘Wow!’ like those ‘Aha!’ moments,” Cox said.
Above all academic achievements and athletic accomplishments, Pigg hopes students value core virtues like respect as integral parts of their character. As lower school students grow and mature, Pigg hopes that certain qualities never fade away.
“We have a motto that says, ‘If all of the Marksmen were just like me, what kind of school would St. Mark’s be?’” Pigg said. “I would hope that they could take that with them as they go through and even when they graduate.”
After reading “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” year after year, Pigg ingrained those traditions into a special part of her life.
“I’m going to miss the literature like that,” Pigg said. “Because I’ve done it for 29 years, it’s going to feel weird not to do that.”
A career in teaching means so much more than grading and teaching. There are aspects to the job that requires teachers to excel above and beyond the curriculum in order to thrive on campus.
“I don’t treat it as like a 9 to 5 thing where I’m like punching it and punching out,” Cox said. “Every day, I do my best to help St. Mark’s students, my students to understand the material, and in the long run, to realize their dreams,” Cox said.
The legacy of a faculty member’s impact on their students and the school extends beyond any one class. There are qualities and virtues that Cox and Pigg among other teachers have instilled to students across campus.
“I hope that I can leave them with a different mindset of thinking things through a little bit,” Pigg said. “They’re still really young, but maybe it’s been integrated enough in them that they can think about that as they go through (school).”
After over a decade of serving the school community, there are a select few moments that retirees remember most fondly. These moments speak to powerful traditions or celebrations empowered by a tightly knit community.
“I love Christmas time as St. Mark’s, the campus being decorated the way it is and just all the traditions that go on there,” Pigg said. “That’s what I’m going to miss, I think the most.”
The end of a chapter at school doesn’t necessarily mean the end of teaching entirely. The same passion that interested Cox in teaching fuels his desire to continue teaching during retirement. Inspired by a former teacher at the school, Ms. Jenkins, Cox plans on tutoring, possibly without charge.
“I do believe in service,” Cox said. “I want to help out people that need help, and I’m happy to do it.”
Even after over a decade and a half of teaching at the school, Cox still explores questions and curiosities, admitting he’ll never understand everything. And retiring certainly doesn’t close this door to learning.
“There are just endless questions, and you try to find answers to them. But even the answers lead to other questions. And that, to me, is exciting, not daunting. As long as you recognize you’re not going to know everything.”
