By Haley Verre
Staff Writer

After thirty-six years of teaching at Westford Academy, history teacher Ed Scollan has decided to retire.

“I tried to keep [the retirement] as low-key as possible, but everyone knows now […] especially with the new class assignments [for next year],” said Scollan.

Scollan described his experience at WA as “unbelievable” and claims he couldn’t think of a better place to be for this long.

“There weren’t many times when I walked into this building [that] I didn’t look forward to [my day]. It sounds hard to believe, but it’s true,” he said.

Scollan stated that it’s strange knowing he’ll be done with teaching in only a couple of months. He will miss his co-workers, especially the ones he’s worked with for a long time, and is planning on coming back to visit.

“I don’t think I’m just going to close the doors and not come back,” he said, “for thirty-six out of my fifty-eight years, this has been part of my life.”

When Scollan first started, he was a twenty-two-year-old student teacher and “overwhelmed” by teaching eighteen-year-olds. He remembers WA had been a place where the teachers knew all of the students, even if they were not in any of their classes.

Westford has been a smaller, rural community until eighly to mid-eighties, when the popultions grew.

Scollan does not find that students have  changed over the years  as much as others have told them they have. he beilives they are a little more stressed and have a lot more activities in their lives, but other than that, he sees no difference.

During his retirement, Scollan hope to become more “active” and spend time in Baltimore, where his son lives.