A little girl sits at a desk with a red pen in hand. The red pen etches the fake assignments, assigning each a grade. Most little kids pretend to be a famous athlete or singer, but this little girl pretends to be her dream job— a teacher. Fast forward about 50 years, and a student walks up to a desk that belongs to AGHS English teacher Laura Wade.
“I was raised by a teacher who taught elementary school, and I really enjoyed school myself,” Wade said. “I made a decision to be a teacher when I was in third grade. It was a comfortable career for me.”
Wade knew she wanted to become a teacher from a young age, but veered away from following in her mother’s footsteps of becoming an elementary school teacher because she feels high school sculpts people into who they are.
“I wanted to help people to become successful in their lives,” Wade said. “So I made a decision to teach high school instead of elementary school.”
Secondary teachers like Wade must pick a single subject to focus on. Deciding what to teach wasn’t a challenge for her.
“I loved English,” Wade said. “I think all the subject areas are very important, but English is extremely important because of the communication skills that you learn. The critical reading, critical writing, thinking, speaking, all those that basically support all the other areas of academics. I just wanted to make a difference in the world.”
Wade didn’t start her career at AGHS, but her presence here has made a big difference.
“I think [my biggest accomplishment at AGHS] would have to be the Advanced Placement program,” Wade said. “When my husband and I first came to Arroyo Grande High School, there were only a couple of AP classes that were offered. Over the course of his being here, as well as my tenure here, we’ve grown our program. We have 22 AP courses that we offer. It’s kind of been my baby.”
Wade’s position as AP coordinator, as well as being a teacher, is another unique thing she’s done at AGHS.
“It’s difficult [to have] an Advanced Placement program that’s not coordinated by an administrator,” Wade said. “[At] most schools, an administrator is the AP coordinator because you cannot be an AP teacher [and] you cannot have kids in the program. There’s all these restrictions. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pressure to be able to pull off [administering so many AP tests].”
Many people on campus admire her ability to work under constant pressure and serve in leadership roles.
“Ms. Wade is such an advocate for teachers,” English teacher Nicholas Kennedy said. “She’s such an advocate for the AP program as well. She’s been a terrific leader of the English department. She cares about teachers as people, and [she] wants what’s best for her colleagues.”
Wade helped Kennedy during his first year teaching at AGHS during Covid. Being used to pen and paper, Wade had to navigate technological changes needed during Covid, while also helping new colleagues acclimate to a new teaching style.
“[2020] was the final year to which I was completing my teacher induction requirements, and that was also the first year of the pandemic,” Kennedy said. “So we got to know each other really well through virtual means, and her support was such an anchor in that year of helping me get acclimated to the school climate and culture without actually being physically on campus for most of the year.”
The ability to adapt seems to come naturally to Wade. When an English teacher quit a few weeks into the 2023-2024 school year, forcing a shuffle in the English department, Wade gave up her advanced English classes to teach the regular and support English classes the previous teacher had.
“I love all students,” Wade said. “I’ve always taught summer school every single summer for credit deficient students. I also taught in the alternative program, which was for students [that] just needed an alternative setting. They’re very capable. They just didn’t fit perfectly into a comprehensive high school. People are people, and the fact that [students are labeled as either] an honor student, an AP student, [or] a regular student [isn’t beneficial to students’ confidence]. Students are students.”
This mentality aids other staff on campus to support students, instead of putting students in a box.
“Ms. Wade has been at this school for over 30 years, and she’s been in education for over 40,” Principal Brad Grumbles said. “She has that ability to help [and] add history and context to decisions. She has helped kind of motivate me. She’s been able to give me some guidance on decisions. She’s been almost kind of like a mentor as well.”
Wade’s position won’t be too hard to fill, but her experience and energy will be hard to replace.
“I think when I announced [Ms. Wade’s retirement, everybody heard] this huge sucking sound,” Grumbles said. “It’s the vortex that Ms. Wade is leaving behind because she [is the] AP coordinator. She does Saturday school. She’s the department chair. She’s the resident historian. She’s a driver for the district writing assessment and the DWA. She’s an advocate for kids. She does a lot. So it’s going to be [some] big shoes to fill [and a] big loss.”
For Wade’s actual position, AGHS found two people to fill the hole in the English department.
“Ms. [Amelia] Vance and Ms. [Sam] Rankin will be joining our team next year,” Grumbles said. “It’s weird because you have 40 years of experience leaving, and you have two teachers coming in with zero years of experience. It’s like [a] full circle [moment].”
However, with Wade’s many jobs at AGHS, Grumbles must find someone to fill in for the AP coordinator position and the English department chair.
“There’s a lot of parameters around [the] AP [coordinator position],” Grumbles said. “It’s a very important position. Currently, I am surveying staff to see who is interested in taking on that role. Once I know who is interested, then we’ll hold interviews. I’m working with Ms. Wade to get a calendar timeline and all of the requirements for [the AP program].”
While Wade’s retirement will be felt all around AGHS, her reasoning for her departure is understandable and exciting.
“I became a grandmother,” Wade said. “Mr. Wade passed away in 2016, and he had been a teacher at Arroyo Grande High School, and so it’s just me living down here because my three adult kids [live elsewhere]. Once I found out that the kids were gonna have a baby, they kept saying, we’d like you to be closer.”
Although Wade is moving away from Arroyo Grande, she will never forget all the lives she’s impacted.
“I look back at students who I’ve had, and they’re out there doing incredible things,” Wade said. “I hope I had [an] itsy bitsy little part of that success. That’s what I care about in education is what little bit in your life can I do to make you a better person and be successful and have a happy life.”
AGHS will miss Wade’s energy, dedication, and love for all students immensely, but also wishes her the best in all her future endeavors.
“Anybody that is willing to dedicate that amount of time to education and educating the next generation is a hero in my mind,” Grumbles said. “So thank you, [Wade], for all of your years of service. You’re an incredible human, and we wish you nothing but the best in the future and her future job as a grandparent, which is amazing.”
