After twenty-nine years of dedication to Esperanza High School, Mr. Cusick is retiring from his position as both a math and yearbook teacher. Before beginning his work in education, Mr. Cusick worked in the computer industry, but decided to change professions when he realized that he was already “teaching all of [the] customers how to do stuff,” and it made sense for him to “actually become a teacher.” Mr. Cusick started out at Esperanza as a track coach, before he had earned his teaching credential, and kept the position for “twenty-five years,” loving “every minute of it.” He was “fortunate to be blessed with some phenomenal athletes,” a few of which “went to the state level.” Mr. Cusick’s own four children also went to Esperanza, and he remembers his daughter and her friend coming into his class because it was a “safe place” to be. All four of his kids were on the track team while Mr. Cusick was the coach, and he also had a son on his yearbook staff and a son in his math class “which was really difficult.” He remembers when his kids were younger and the school still had linoleum floors, they would “take [his] chairs, and they would be rolling up and down the hallways and having fun,” but when they started coming to the school as students it was a surreal moment realizing they were no longer his “little rugrats.” During his time at Esperanza, Mr. Cusick also “computerized” the yearbook program completely, and made the class “work to [his] advantage.” Photography is a “creative outlet” for Mr. Cusick, and although he doesn’t consider himself artistic, photography is one “form of art” that he really enjoys. Students of Mr. Cusick know that his beautiful photos from around the world are displayed on the walls of his classroom. When it comes to memories of teaching at Esperanza, Mr. Cusick struggles to find one specific “favorite moment,” and instead looks to “the twenty-nine years of collective memories” as what he “will always treasure.” Working at Esperanza for many years, he loves the “connection where kids, generationally, are still coming to the same school.” He recently found out that the mother of one of his current students was a classmate of his daughter, and he is currently teaching the son of a former student of his, which is a rare and unique opportunity for a teacher. On behalf of each generation of students who benefitted from Mr. Cusick’s hard work, we thank you.