After 42 years of teaching at Portsmouth High School, science teacher Doreen George is retiring. George began teaching at PHS in 1984, and from the start, she immediately felt at home. 

“The teachers in the science department have always been close. Having the same people you know year after year is important,” George says. She recalls that her first years were filled with bonding activities that made the department feel especially close-knit .“It’s what’s kept me here all these years,” she says.

As George steps away from the career that has been such a large part of her life, she feels lucky to have taught in a school that puts such emphasis on education, saying that she sees a higher standard for learning in Portsmouth than “any other school district.”

Senior Nate Delaney, who took George’s Anatomy and Physiology class last semester and Biology class sophomore year, says that George is a truly “heartfelt and kind teacher, but also a listener and a learner. She loves to interact with her class collaboratively.” 

Beyond dissecting pigs, Delaney says what made George’s class most memorable was his failure to succeed at first. He recalls that George was constantly there for him whenever he was struggling in class, constantly encouraging him to seek help and put in the time and dedication to excel. 

“She cares about you outside of the classroom,” Delaney says, “always asking how sports are going or how extracurriculars went.” 

Of everything a student could take away from her class, George simply hopes they learn something and “remember that I cared about them.”

Delaney certainly left her class feeling cared for, but also with fond memories of the fun times spent in classroom number 305. One memory stuck out to him more than the others.

“As a part of the pig dissection in Anatomy and Physiology, you can cut off their ears… One day, I cut off the ears of my pig and put them in the stomach of my lab partner’s pig,” he says with a chuckle. “It took my lab partner two whole weeks to notice them, and Ms. George was in on it the whole time. My lab partner was certainly shocked at the discovery!” 

Though many students remember her for moments like these and her wicked sense of humor, her colleagues admire her for her remarkable passion and commitment to teaching. 

Richard Hugener, fellow PHS science teacher and head of the science department , says George is the “ultimate professional. She puts in the time and effort, works extremely hard, and is constantly bettering our community and school.”

After waking up around 4:45 a.m. every morning for the past 42 years, it is no surprise that George is commemorated for the time and energy she has devoted to teaching. And though she jokes that the early wake-ups are the first thing to go once she retires, she encourages future teachers to show their dedication to this school district in other ways.

“Get involved in the community of the high school, and never stop learning,” George says, a lesson that she has learned over the course of her time at PHS.

George’s years of experience have made her the perfect “resource for younger teachers, not just in the science department,” says Hugener, noting that many teachers and students stop by her class to ask her questions daily. 

Like many of the young teachers who come to her for help, George remembers when she was just starting her teaching journey. She says that if she could go back in time and tell first-year George anything, it would be to “Just enjoy the whole experience from start to end.” 

When asked what his one final message to George would be, Delaney says, “I’d want to tell her that the difference she made in my education is truly invaluable. I sincerely wish her nothing but the best moving forward. Everyone at PHS will miss her, but I know I will definitely miss her the most.”

As George packs up her classroom in preparation for her final day, she reflects on the memories of the many students whom she has impacted through almost half a century at PHS. 

She remembers them through a collection of thank-you notes kept behind her desk, which she says is by far the most “meaningful thing in the room” for her. For George, it acts as a reminder of the countless lives she has touched as a science teacher at PHS and the impact she has left, not just in the school, but in the greater community.