Ms. Brown and Coach Hunter together in arms for their last photo.

By Rhayne McQuirter

In 2019, mixed emotions travel around Daphne High School, as the hard fact that Ms. Tracie Brown and Mr. Bryan Hunter will be retiring in the following months of the last academic term, more specifically in May.

Indeed, their retirement is approaching soon, since we’re already in the last semester of the school session. Furthermore, only few were aware of their , but starting as a simple rumor was soon ceased when Brown and Hunter confirmed it to be true.

“I would like to think my absence from this place means, that I can consistently monitor them [the students] and provide reminders as I do currently. The plans that I do after [retirement], is something in the making, but it will involve students and empowering them,” Brown said.

“How I feel about Ms.Brown overall academically and personally, she puts a lot [of work] together, she doesn’t just give you the answer, she makes you work for it. I came to realize in class, that I can be hardworking and independent,” Ashton Strictlyn stated.

Ms. Brown has been a greatly respected employee, gifted with a ‘motherly’ instinct towards her students and a cooperative nature with her co-workers. She pioneered her classroom into a well appreciated learning environment for her students that later shaped many of her present and former students with the life lessons of accountability, responsibility, respect, and manners, that she believes that’ll make them closer to becoming successful in the future, but only a few now really consider her as the backbone of Daphne High.

“I believe that Ms.Brown need to wait about five more years, because I will retire in five more years and I need Ms. Brown to be over in hall one, [since] she maintains [order] ‘the law’. I’m sure Ms. Brown has plans for when she leaves here; she has been a great, great employee at Daphne High School, and she just feel like it’s time to go and move on to something else. Without a question, I feel that Ms. Brown’s absence will most definitely affect the upcoming freshman this year, ” Lawless said.

Ms. Brown’s retirement is a loss, but a well-deserved respite for her. Hopefully, the faculty  are throwing one last party for her before the end of the year. Despite the idea of Ms. Brown’s replacement in the near future, she will truly be missed by most of the residents attending the school.

“ I think Coach Hunter is a great person,a great coach, he’s my swim coach; I just think he’s a great person overall. He taught to me to get my work done, he taught me about my character and taught me how to carry myself. I think they [the upcoming students] will definitely miss out on Coach Hunter, I had him as a freshman too and he’s gonna be missed . He’s a good teacher and role model,” Nick DeFilippi said.  

Including equally important, Coach Hunter, another respected and known teacher of Daphne High School, decided it was time to leave as well. From teaching academics to coaching, his time here is appreciated even after twenty-five years working at the school.

“Even though, I was here for forty-five years, and I think they [the students] are changing every year, some good and some bad up until now, during the forty-five period, there is some [the students] on the uprise and some are staggering right now and hopefully they’ll succeed.” Hunter stated.

Also, teaching for 45 years, students aren’t surprised that he’s retiring this year.

“He’s a really good motivator, he’s able to attract a lot of students to the swim team. He knows a lot about it and has a personal interest in it, his family’s involved in it, so his influence is strong because of that and he also have a very strong influence on the academic side, he’s always been able to teach students on the high end of the spectrum and the low end of the spectrum and he can work well with all kinds of students, so when a student is struggling, he’s going to go above and beyond and meet with that student before or after school,” Principal Dr. Foster said.