Students Honor Teacher Who Retired After 50 Years of Work

Students Honor 72-Year-Old Teacher Retiring After 50 Years With Applause Throughout the Hallways

By Regina Sienra on October 19, 2022

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A post shared by Sheridan Steelman, Ph.D. (@dr.steelman.reads)

Many people have an inspiring teacher who changed their life. They may have pursued their students to try something new or helped them gain confidence—all stories are different, but we all have so much to praise educators for. A retiring teacher from Michigan got a massive “thank you” in the form of a moving school-wide send-off. Dr. Sheridan Steelman, who is 72, retired after working at Northview High School in Grand Rapids for 50 years. As she walked out of the building for the last time, students and faculty members lined up along the hallways to give this devoted teacher a much deserved round of applause.

The gesture caught Dr. Steelman off guard, and a colleague even ran up to hand her a tissue as tears started streaming down her face. In addition to her years of joy, the grateful teacher did a little twirl in excitement and hugged a fellow educator on her way out. This moving tribute was captured on video by Steelman's daughter, who shared it on TikTok. The video didn't take long to go viral, quickly earning 6.6 million views and 1.3 million likes.

In the short video, it is revealed that Dr. Steelman started working at age 22, and dedicated her whole career to the students of Northview High School, where she eventually reached the position of department leader and curriculum teacher leader. On the side, she earned her Ph.D. at age 67, wrote a book on Shakespeare (which will come out soon), and raised six children.

Students Line Up to Honor Retiring Teacher Sheridan Steelman

Photo: Screenshot from TikTok

“I don't know if I've ever seen an educator just adjust and adapt to serve their students over the years, in order just to continue to promote learning,” Northview Principal Mark Thomas, who planned the surprise, told Good Morning America. “Some people can, in all phases of life, replicate what they've done and do that over time. Well, she constantly reviews her practices and constantly takes feedback from her students, and constantly looks at new innovations and best practices and she implements those in her classroom.”

As for Dr. Steelman, she said she could have gone a lot longer. “I thought it would be really cool to be able to go to 50 years but I didn't want to do it unless I was still really having fun and enjoying myself and was in good health and still learning a lot,” says the educator. “But I also feel like it's time and even though they say, ‘Well, were you ready?' No, but it's time.”

To present and future teachers, Dr. Sheridan offers one piece of advice: “Try to make sure that you have a balance and that you're taking care of yourself. But also, when you're there in the classroom, just have fun, be yourself and enjoy all those moments, because that's what the kids remember. They remember how they were treated as students and they remember that relationship that you had with them. They remember the funny things you talked about in class.”