STANDISH – He turned teenagers into legislators and lawyers, and taught them how to win detailed political debates. Now, after four decades of teaching, David Ezhaya will do, well, nothing.
“I don’t really have any plans,” said Ezhaya with a chuckle. “So far I’ve been spending a lot of time golfing.”
After 40 years teaching government, debate, and a variety of social studies courses, Ezhaya retired at the end of June.
“The timing was right for me,” said Ezhaya. “I think 40 years is good enough.”
Ezhaya graduated from college in Maine in 1971 and shortly after graduation attended a job fair, where he met the principal of Bonny Eagle High School. Having been a student teacher in nearby Gorham, Ezhaya was familiar with the area and filled out an application. The rest is history.
“I fell in love with the area’s beauty,” said Ezhaya. “How lucky have I been to drive past the lake every day on my way to work?”
Ezhaya started off teaching a basic social studies class and as the school grew he went on to teach classes in government, Vietnam War, debate, U.S. history and mock trial. He also served as the adviser for Amnesty International and coach for the Maine Bar Association’s Mock Trial program.
“I think I taught everything there was to teach regarding current events,” said Ezhaya. “I enjoyed teaching every one.”
According to his former students his excitement showed through with spirit and fun.
“I was not really looking forward to taking his class because I was not very interested in government issues,” said Kelly Bradbury, class of 2009. “But once I started attending his class I enjoyed it. He taught in a way that made it easy to understand and had fun activities that gave us hands-on learning.”
Brooke VanRosendael, who had Ezhaya last year, agreed.
“He always had so much energy,” she said. “I was never bored in his class. I learned something every day.”
Students from years past discussed the way he taught and how much fun his classes were on Facebook after finding out he was retiring. One student remembered him turning his government class into the floor of the U.S. Senate, assigning each student to be a senator and only allowing them to argue issues as that senator would. Another remembered the sign that hung in his room for years, “Should NAFTA get the shafta?” Another student remembered the way Ezhaya made them feel.
“I would like to thank him for being a great teacher,” said class of 1995 alumni Devan Tuttle. “He didn’t treat me like the dummy I tried to play myself off to be.”
Ezhaya shared similar feelings for his students.
“The thing that keeps a teacher going is the students,” said Ezhaya. “It’s their intellectual curiosity and their creativity and excitement that makes it fun. It was a great 40 years, just a great experience.”
In his time at Bonny Eagle, Ezhaya won accolades, both locally and nationally. In 2010 he was chosen to represent Maine at the Center on Congress Conference in Indiana, an honor only bestowed on 35 teachers across America. He was also named a C-SPAN Champion Teacher during his tenor. He coached his Mock Trial team to the state regionals more than once and has inspired many students to be more involved in politics, and those students say he will be greatly missed.
“Mr. Ezhaya is a very kind, thoughtful, and overall great man,” said Bradbury. “Bonny Eagle will be sad to see him go. I am proud to say that I had him for a teacher.”
Ezhaya will miss the school but doesn’t regret his decision to retire. And now that he has additional time on his hands, he will be sharing his wisdom with a small “student” close to his heart; his granddaughter Pearl.
“I am happy to be able to spend more time with my amazing 3-year old granddaughter,” said Ezhaya. “But I will miss my students at Bonny Eagle. It was a blast. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
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