Mr. Yohe Reflects on His Time as a Teacher
Mr. Yohe Reflects on His Time as a Teacher
Noah Shin
Staff Writer
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Mr. Yohe teaches math at the high school. He will retire this year.
For the last 32 years Mr. Yohe has taught math. However this year, his eighth at Cumberland Valley, will be his last.
Mr. Yohe graduated from Penn State University with a degree in electrical engineering. He recalled a pivotal incident from his first job as an electrical engineer. A co-worker “went up on this high building, and she had high heels on. They said she wasn’t dressed appropriately. And [that] I had to fire her. I’m like, this is not what I signed up for, so I decided to get certified and teach math right then and there.”
During his time as a teacher he has taught hundreds of students, one notable one being our new principal, Dr. Jesse Rawls. Mr. Yohe remembers, “I taught Mr. Rawls in 1990. I think he was in my coding class. He was, at the time, an all star wrestler and he became state champion. He came back many years later and I was his mentor for math. And now he’s my boss.”
A lesson he has learned through his time teaching was to change from a “classroom environment teacher,” to a “get to know all of my students kind of teacher.” He understands that some of his courses are challenging, but if he gives students one-on-one time, they perform better.
The thing he will miss most about CV is, “Without a doubt the students, there’s no reason I’m retiring because of them. I love students,” he said. The biggest reason that made him want to teach was a time he spent teaching kids at a summer camp. After interacting and teaching kids at that camp, “I was hooked. I like working with kids,” he said.
Outside of school, Mr. Yohe says he loves to watch movies and shows. He is a big fan of Stranger Things, Breaking Bad, and Tarantino movies.
One of the things on Mr. Yohe’s bucket list for after his retirement is to go to a lot of concerts. When he was in high school, he said he had gone to many concerts with his friends. More recently, he has seen Lady Gaga and Imagine Dragons and hopes to one day catch an AJR concert. Another thing on his bucket list is to write a book. Already a published author – he published a textbook on trigonometry in 2002 – he says his next book will be nothing like that. Instead, “It’s gonna be a tell all about education,” he said.
As for his plans for retirement?
He said, “Mr. Mashinski gave me permission not to have a plan.”