Murphy retires mid semester

Just weeks ago, Samo received the news that one of its teacher decided to depart from the school; Mr. Murphy, an S house physics teacher, retired mid-semester. While the decision seems abrupt, it had been planned for a couple of years.“Mr. Murphy wanted to retire last year but was not able to because the school couldn’t find him a replacement on time. He had to stay for an extra semester,” Lorenzo Gordon (’18) said.Students have diverse thoughts about Murphy’s sudden retirement.“I wish he could have stayed another semester,” Danny Pinter (’18) said. “It sucks. It’s hard to catch up after that.”Other students believe the school could have done a better job managing this situation.“I just wished the school could have let him retire when he wanted,” Gordon said. “It would have been better for everyone, especially him.”To facilitate the transition between Murphy and his replacement, Ms. Gleason, a substitute teacher specialized in math, subbed in for a week. On Jan. 23, the physics students of Samo discovered their new teacher for the rest of the year would be Jason Aiken.“Mr. Murphy had been teaching for a long time and had gotten really good at lecturing. Mr. Aiken seems really smart and relaxed and I think he will be as good a teacher as Mr. Murphy,” Angel Morales (’18) said.While Murphy left the school, he left the students with some very warm memories.“My fondest memories of him are when he went on tangents about the books that he wanted to write,” Gordon said. “He had lots of ideas; for example, he told me he wanted to write a book on the physics of bodybuilding.”While some students feel betrayed by the departure of Murphy, he leaves behind good memories and a legacy of high academic achievement.