Any student who has entered the history hallway has heard the the thunderous voice of Ronald Koehler, teaching the fundamental history of the United States, a voice that hones minds of students on a range of knowledge from battle tactics to key players to women’s suffrage. This will be his final year at WA as he is retiring.

Koehler has spent over forty years in education, sixteen of which have been spent at WA and has noticed the changes in teaching as time has passed.

“Eons ago, there were no such things as personal computers. When personal computers started coming into the school, I became very interested in them. Actually, I became one of the first teachers [in the school] who started using them, so much that I went back to school and got an Advanced degree in using technology and education,” said Koehler.

However, Koehler’s position was removed, thus leading him to take the available position in the history department.

“Well, I needed a job. Just kidding. But not really. Anyway, I’ve always loved history. It’s what I studied when I was studying to be a teacher for my undergraduate,” said Koehler.

Koehler has also been working as an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University since 1984. He prepares future teachers to utilize technology to its fullest potential in classrooms, in fact WA’s digital learning specialist Stephanie Gosselin was one of his students. 

Despite spending over 40 years in education, Koehler also spent time in the army after his college years.

After graduating and earning his bachelor’s degree, the Vietnam war broke out. Due to the lottery system of the draft, Koehler had a high chance of being forced into the war. Instead, he enlisted into the army and avoided the front lines, serving in the army for over three years, spending the majority of his time in Europe.

“I think it’s hard for anybody to understand what war is like, who hasn’t participated in war. Fortunately I have never been in war, but there’s so much violence in the media and conflict are often portrayed not as they really are. This country has been at war in foreign nations for many years, a fact we tend to not think about and just continue on with our daily lives. It’s not a good or bad thing, but it makes the decision to raise war or send troops down easier,” said Koehler.

After his years in the army, Koehler returned to the United States and resumed his life as a young adult.

“It was a temporary thing. I was lucky, I had a job. The transition from serving to that was…welcomed. I went to something I was prepared to do,” says Koehler.

While his immediate job after was not in education, it had been in the medical corps as a drug counselor, he states that he enjoyed working with people who were trying to change their lives for the better.

Similarly, he relates that transition to the one he faces going towards retirement. While Koehler says it is a welcomed change to his life, his departure is an opportunity to enjoy life, but he will regret not being able to see his students everyday. 

“I going to miss the students. There’s nothing I enjoy more than getting up everyday and coming in here and being with all of these students. I love teaching high school students and they’re so full of energy. The kids in Westford are just great, this is a great school to teach in,” Koehler said.

Nevertheless, he plans on using his retirement to its maximum potential.

“I plan on doing nothing, first of all. I plan on enjoying sleeping in, things like that. Oh, but I want to travel, my wife and I are planning to travel on a lot more now that we’re free,“ Koehler said.

While Koehler retires from his full time occupation as a history teacher, he plans to continue working at Lesley to supervise practitioners who are earning their technology license and continue helping other teachers prepare for the classroom. 

“I realized not too long after teaching, that I wasn’t teaching history. I was teaching students. There’s a difference. Teaching history means that you’ve got a body of knowledge you’re giving to someone. But teaching students means that you understand the individuals, that they’re not just brains that take in knowledge. They have feelings, emotions, and everybody’s different. The more you can relate to your students as people, as human beings, as well as someone there to learn something. Bottom line, you’re not teaching history, you’re not teaching mathematics, you’re not teaching chemistry. You’re teaching students,” said Koehler.

Overall, Koehler expresses his excitement to begin a new chapter however laments his retirement from WA.

“Westford Academy is a special place, and I’ve been very fortunate to be in contact with such important people like the teachers here and the students. I’ll always have special memories of Westford Academy,” said Koehler.