Bonnie Strohl began teaching German language at Ephrata High School in 1974.
"Always knew I wanted to teach, but when I first started, I couldn't decide among English, Math and German," Strohl said.
She settled on German and also taught English as a second language for several years.
"I know I made the right decision," Strohl said.
Dedicated, compassionate and hard-working, Strohl will close her classroom doors for the final time on June 2, when she will retire from teaching, 38 years after she first set foot in the classroom as an educator.
For Strohl, retirement wraps up a lifelong love affair with helping young people learn German. Some former students have followed her footsteps into a teaching career, while a few of her current students are learning from someone who taught their father or mother.
"There is one student in my classroom whose parents are both former students of mine. The mother is now my colleague as well.
"I took another former student on a exchange trip to Germany years back, and now I have her son in my classroom," she said.
Having spent the majority of her life teaching, Strohl said the decision to retire did not come easy.
"It's all about the people. I'm going to miss the students and my colleagues. They have made my career what it is," she said.
"It was very difficult, but once I made the decision, I knew I had to move on and try some new things."
The mother of two adult children and grandmother of two, Strohl said she has taught more than 2,500 students, some of them during multiple years.
Strohl, 60, spoke of her involvement with the German American Partnership Program - a high school exchange program between schools in Germany and the United States - in which Ephrata High School is an active participant.
Ephrata High has a partnership with a school in the city of Eberbach, in Baden, Germany, the birthplace of Konrad Beissel, founder of the Ephrata Cloister.
"More than 300 of our students have participated in the program either by hosting German students, traveling to Germany or both.
"It's amazing to see how they are able to use their language skills and share the experiences they've had," she said.
One thing is clear: Strohl has a special talent with students.
On a recent morning she was seen singing along and encouraging students to join her in a song as they prepared for an upcoming show at the school.
The worst moments of her career, she said, were those involving the sudden loss of a student.
"Losing a student in a tragic event is one of the hardest thing a teacher goes through," Strohl said. "There is nothing worse than that empty desk."
But looking back at almost four decades in the classroom, she said, "I would do it all over again. It's been a fabulous career and extremely rewarding."
Though Strohl doesn't have any specific plans for retirement, traveling with her husband, Jim, is definitely at the top of her list.
"I am a very optimistic person and I know I will be involved in many other things," she said. "I am excited for that challenge."
