As the year comes to a close, Warren says goodbye not only to graduating seniors, but also to various retiring teachers. One of these teachers is Mr. Mieszala, a science teacher at the Almond Campus. Other than a year-long stint as a permanent sub/coach at Cary Grove, he has spent his entire 33 year long career at Warren. I sat down with him to talk about his time here at Warren, what he plans to do with his retirement, and what he’s going to miss the most.

Prior to teaching here, he went to the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater for his undergraduate degree, then earned his masters at Northern Illinois University. Though he’s taught biology and geology in the past, he currently teaches both regular and AP Environmental Science. We didn’t spend too much time discussing what he plans to do with his retirement, as he doesn’t have any plans yet, but we did talk about his time here at Warren. The impact of the students he’s worked with over his time here is apparent, as he said that he will miss them the most. Additionally, when I asked him about a meaningful experience he’s had with Warren students, he responded that there were too many to count.

I also had the opportunity to ask some questions to Mr. Kreunen, an AP Physics and Material Science teacher who has known Mr. Mieszala for 15 years. When asked how he would describe Mr. Mieszala, he responded that he is “passionate, kind, and very knowledgeable”. He then expanded on this, saying that Mr. Mieszala is more helpful than Google when it comes to environmental and geology issues, whether it’s identifying rocks from the beach or using a song to remember the different kinds of oak trees. Now that Mr. Mieszala is retiring, Mr. Kreunen joked that everyone else needs to step up their collective knowledge.

Like the rest of the teachers who are retiring this year, Mr. Mieszala will be missed by students and staff alike. When I asked for any parting wisdom from him before he retires, he left me and the rest of the student body here at Warren with this: “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” Hopefully, this advice is heeded by Warren students long after Mr. Mieszala has retired.