Mrs. Erickson is an admired English teacher at Sahuaro, well-known among students for giving non-traditional and interesting assignments like her famous time capsules, boxes that the freshmen make which captures “who they are as freshmen”. She keeps them until senior year, when students come back to open them and see their growth and changes.  Though Mrs. Erickson has been a teacher for 30 years, she has taught at Sahuaro for the last six. Still, she is a dedicated and lovely teacher. Regretfully, it is time for Sahuaro to say goodbye to Mrs. Erickson as she parts for retirement.

“I’m starting to lose my passion for coordinating the assignments that students enjoy, and I wanted to leave this career on a high note. I didn’t want students to be like ‘oh my gosh when is she leaving?’ I wanted to completely give it my all,” said Mrs. Erickson.

“Mrs. Erickson was the best, she really cares about making the class interesting. She cares most about her students though, which is why she’s so great. I loved the time capsule assignment,” said Mikayla Kelley, a senior at Sahuaro.

Mr. Hislope and Ms. Krause, fellow English teachers will especially miss  her.  “It’s a great loss,” said colleague Mr. Hislope.

However, even though Mrs. Erikson will be gone, the rest the English department will have to continue on with the memories. A strong and hard-working teacher that went up and above for her students, she will always be remembered as a special Cougar.

Mrs. Erickson will deeply miss her students and the support from Sahuaro’s faculty, while also looking forward to not showing up to professional development meetings on Wednesdays. After retiring, she will finally be able to travel and will definitely be visiting Peru and Thailand.

Mrs. Erickson, Sahuaro loves you and we’ll miss you deeply. Happy Retirement!

PURA VIDA!