Chemistry teacher Julia Dodd announced her retirement April 26 during chapel. She has served as a science teacher for twenty years, teaching all levels of chemistry. She has also been involved with servant leadership over the course of her career.

“Mrs. Dodd has taught at Darlington for twenty years. She has taught all levels of chemistry during her time here. She is the epitome of what it means to be a master teacher,” Dean of Students for Global Education Tara Inman stated.

While Dodd has been here the past twenty years, she has seen the changes made to life at Darlington. Dodd has seen all the cultures brought by her students which is a big point in her satisfied experience. She was able to connect with her students and teach them that science is not a frightening subject to take.

“The students have always been my favorite part of teaching.  Here we have a very diverse group of students; getting to know them and their cultures while being a part of their education has made my time here very satisfying,” Dodd said. “We have many excellent students in the sciences and math; teaching them makes a teacher sharpen their own skills.  Some students have a fear of science; getting them to see that it’s really a very cool subject is also gratifying.”

Dodd saw a spark in students wanting to participate in AP science classes. During her early teaching career, only a handful of students were taking AP chemistry and it was easier to manage labs. Classes were also 90 minutes, which gave students time to fully engage and learn the material need to succeed.

“When I first came, classes were much smaller (less than 15 per class usually).  That makes science labs easier to manage. Only a handful of students attempted AP Science courses, now many more students are interested in APSci,” Dodd said. “Having 90 minutes per day for AP Chemistry was great; the current schedule with 70 minutes every other day is not optimal. In the science department, we have more course offerings for students at all levels and many students take more than the minimum required for graduation.”

Dodd was here when the international population expanded. Students from all over were able to come and learn the American culture. Also experience life at Darlington. Dodd was able to teach a diverse group of students and see the benefits of having a diverse culture at Darlington.

“Along about 2004 the international student population became more diverse with students arriving from China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America. Their presence here elevates the benefits of the Darlington experience for all of us. Of course the people have changed as old friends have moved on or retired and new folks come in to our community.”

Dodd has been impacted by many during her time at Darlington. She has made many friends and been able to not only mentor her fellow staff, but learn from their experiences.

“There are so many great personalities among the faculty and staff. Working here with them has been a pleasure. Raymond Murray and Tollie Ross seemed to always have an interesting story to tell at lunch,” Dodd said. “Tim Garrett and I may look very different, but we came from similar backgrounds and both of us appreciated the role that education played in helping us escape poverty. We had a lot in common and talked often. He was the person that I knew best around here.”

Dodd intends to travel more during her retirement with her husband. When she first was married, they spent time traveling but while coming to Darlington she had to put that aside to engage in her educational career. An immediate change in retiring from teaching will be taking care of her mother-in-law.

“In the immediate future I will be taking care of my mother-in-law who will be coming to live with us soon.  My husband and I enjoyed travelling when we were first married; we would like to get back into that again one day,” Dodd said.