After 20 years as one of 5 guidance counselors, Dennis Tinsley is one of the most experienced on the staff. “It sometimes feels that we are being counseled as well because he has so much experience and wisdom,” fellow guidance counselor Susy Drake said.

Further, Tinsley is known as a friendly counselor. “I really enjoy sharing his office and working with him,” counselor Jeffrey Yang said.  “His attitude toward students and staff is always professional, helpful and friendly.”

Tinsley is proud when his students go to college and is glad to know that he helped in a small way. “The best part of the job is seeing a student blossom into a young adult and seeing them mature,” Tinsley said.

Tinsley’s departure is not unexpected. He has been gradually reducing his workload over the last few years, working only part time this year. “For the last 53 of the last 55 years I have been either going to school or working at a school,” Tinsley said. “You know when it is time to step aside and let someone with more energy take over.

Tinsley hopes to do many of the things he has been unable to do while working. An avid traveler, he will be going to Italy this summer. Tinsley also likes gardening, antiquing and remodeling his house. Tinsley summed up what he hoped to do in his retirement in one sentence: “to do anything I want, whenever I want.”

English teacher Carol Kuiper will retire to spend more time in politics and social action issues, as well as with her family. She has always been an activist. Soon after marriage, she was involved in her church, Head Start, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Movement. “American society was changing rapidly, and I was fortunate to be a young woman with the time and energy to contribute to social change,” Kuiper said. She has benefited the local community by serving on the Los Altos Elementary School Board for eight years, being an active member in the Santa Clara School Board Association, by lobbying in Sacramento for school reforms and being an active Girl Scout leader.

After her children grew up, Kuiper found work at Gunn. “As my years of volunteer activism closed, a wonderful new career opened as I returned to my first love as a classroom teacher,” Kuiper said. Over the years, Kuiper has done much to improve the Gunn community. She revamped the Film Appreciation curriculum, created pilot materials for the women’s literature elective, instituted a multicultural literature class, and guided the journalism program for nine years.

She has been at Gunn for 21 years, and has enjoyed the rewards of the vocation. “I will miss the daily interactions with students, helping them learn, discover their potential, and deepen their compassion as they take their places in the world,” Kuiper said. “I will also miss wonderful colleagues.”

Kuiper has a lot in store for her retirement. First on Kuiper’s retirement agenda is traveling to the Mediterranean this summer. She also plans on revisiting Ashland, Oregon, Australia, China and the Middle East. Kuiper also wants to keep working in politics and for social justice in the world at large, as well as to spend more time with her family.

After 19 years of calling Gunn her home, guidance counselor Susy Drake is leaving in hopes of spend ing more time with her new family.

Even after leaving Gunn, Drake plans to maintain an active schedule and to come back once a week to ease the transition for her replacement. “I plan to work part time in a knitting store and volunteer at San Lorenzo Valley High School,” Drake said. “I also hope to play more tennis.”

In her career at Gunn, Drake has spent 13 years as a counselor and six as a college coordinator. The most important and enjoyable part of her job is seeing the impact she makes on her students’ lives. “Seeing students achieve their goal and transform work ethic and watching them mature are some of the biggest awards of this job,” Drake said.

Thinking back on her years at Gunn, Drake says that she will miss Gunn at the moments it became a family. “The different times Gunn drew together as a family are those that I will miss most,” Drake said. “Such as the staff student musicals, the Loma Prieta earthquake, 9/11 and when the art building caught on fire.”

Drake herself will be missed by the staff and students as she retires. “She is one of the most compassionate, caring, student-centered people I have ever met,” Vice Principal Anne-Marie Balzano said.

English teacher Karen Oppenheim decided to move to Fresno earlier this school year after her husband received a promotion.

She plans to focus on spending more time with her family, particularly her young daughter Zia. “Hopefully, I will spend a lot more time with my amazing two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Zia,” Oppenheim said.

Oppenheim plans to do other things as well. “However, I also know that I need at least 15 hours a week for myself, so I will probably get some kind of job,” Oppenheim said. “I’ve thought about teaching part-time, tutoring, substitute teaching, diversity consulting, student teacher training and working as an administrative assistant.”

During her years at Gunn, Oppenheim has contributed much to the school community. “Not only is she a wonderful teacher, but she was involved in the Not in Our School anti-hate campaign, Camp Anytown/Everytown, Facing History and Ourselves, another diversity program, and she is the Gay-Straight Alliance club adviser,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

English Instructional Supervisor Paul Dunlap agrees that Oppenheim has been more to the English department than just a teacher. “Just as we can’t replace our friends, we can’t replace Ms. Oppenheim,” Dunlap said.

According to Oppenheim, her decision to leave Gunn was difficult for her to make because of her affection for Gunn. “Deciding to move to Fresno was probably the hardest decision of my life,” Oppenheim said. “Teaching is so closely connected with my identity—who I am and what I’m about—and Gunn is the ultimate job for me. It is the reason I wake up excited in the morning. And between the Gunn students and staff, I always feel completely at home here.”

However, she believes the decision was for the best. “But there is only one thing that comes before my job—it is my family,” Oppenheim said. “They are a permanent first priority.”

About two months ago, social studies teacher Kelly and his wife decided to move in August to Mariposa—where his wife’s family lives—located between Merced and Yosemite. They have been thinking about it for a couple of years, and their nine-month-old son, Conor, finally made them take action. “We live in San Francisco on the third floor so there aren’t any yards,” Kelly said. “My son’s going to be walking soon, and he’s going to need a place to run around.” Once settled there, Kelly hopes to continue teaching U.S. history and psychology at a local high school.

Although he has taught various social studies classes, coached football and participated in the Close Up trips to Washington, D.C., Kelly’s legacy lies with his seven-year commitment to AP U.S. History (APUSH). In Kelly’s mind, APUSH aims to teach students how to learn for and teach themselves. “The goal is to take the skills beyond the class, such as organizing, thinking on your feet and dealing with massive amounts of information,” Kelly said.

According to social studies Instructional Supervisor John Fredrich, Kelly certainly has left his mark on the class. “[APUSH] is a challenging course, and we’re all very happy that [Kelly] has been willing to teach it,” Fredrich said. “He needs to be congratulated for doing such a good

While expressing regret about Kelly’s upcoming departure, Fredrich is supportive of Kelly’s decision. “Mariposa’s gain is our loss,” Fredrich said. “But he’s got a good thing to go to. When you’re a younger guy starting a family, you’ve got to go where the opportunities are.”

Despite his excitement to start a new life breathing fresh air in the mountains, Kelly feels that Gunn will always have a special place in his heart. “What I’ll miss most are the intensity and the really high expectations—although they can be a double-edged sword—as well as Gunn’s amazing literacy,” he said.

English teacher Matt Struckmeyer, on leave from Gunn to teach at Dunn School, is moving to the boarding school because with his home right on campus, Struckmeyer will be able to teach near his daughter. Another benefit to moving, according to Struckmeyer, is the new opportunities it presents Erin, his wife. “[T]his is a great chance for her to establish her high school teaching credentials and put us on similar career paths,” he said.

Unfortunately, the move means that Struckmeyer must abandon many projects, including Bible as Literature. “The hardest part of this decision for me is leaving people and projects at Gunn that I hold dear,” Struckmeyer said. “Having designed the Bible as Lit course, it’s a great disappointment not getting the chance to teach it.”

Struckmeyer has also been deeply involved with the Garden Club. “I’ve worked so hard over the past two years to rejuvenate it that it seems a shame to leave just as it nears completion,” he said. “But I am very happy for the students who will capably run and expand it, including a new produce stand in the fall.”

Struckmeyer already has new plans, however, for his return. “I’ve already spoken to Ms. Likins about a gardening and cooking course I’d love to teach if or when we return,” he said. “It would be very hands-on and teach students about how to live healthier, more ecologically sound lives.”

In a Gunn without a Struckmeyer, a unique blend of traits will be distinctly absent. “The best thing about working with Mr. Struckmeyer is that he challenges and inspires students and teachers alike to be the best they can be,” English teacher Mark Hernandez said. “He is admirably honest, and is marked by integrity that is more than refreshing. He’s also as dynamic a man as I know.”