By Jadynne Brady

Editor-in-Chief 

The Jag

After 30 years of teaching, Spanish teacher Amanda Laws is ready to speak what she taught in the language’s native countries.  

Laws had always loved teaching and as far as languages were concerned, she found that passion at a church camp in middle school, along with other children who were just learning English. 

“So, we decided to use the limited amounts of each other’s languages that we knew, to see if we could communicate, and it was really fun,” Laws says.   

Of her 30 years of teaching, the first 10 were spent at Moreland Ridge Middle School, where she taught World Languages and coached track. 

“I was pregnant at the time, which was really interesting because I’m trying to teach them how to pike their leg up,” Laws says.  

Laws has decided to retire now to focus on her family. 

“It’s been a long road,” she says, “and my parents are not doing well, so I need to focus more on family.” 

She also plans to travel during her retirement as well. 

“We have a big cruise that we already have scheduled. We’re going to go to the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Cartagena, Colombia. That’ll be fun,” Laws says.   

While excited about traveling, she knows that she will miss her students. 

“It’s bittersweet, you know? I mean, there’s good and bad,” Laws says. “[I’ll] miss my students immensely, but I know that I’ll be able to touch base with them here and there, and see how awesome things are doing in the future.”  

From her experience in teaching, she advises that the relationships you form as a teacher is the most important part.  

“Just give yourself grace, take it a day at a time,” she says. “Remember that the relationship that you have with your kids is the most important part, because if you don’t have a relationship, you’re not going to get very far.”