After advising this newspaper for 15 years, the High Arrow staff and the IHS community bid farewell to Mr. Larry Nath. Mr. Nath is retiring from teaching multiple grade levels at IHS for 25 years. He instructed a wide variety of classes such as AP Language and Composition, 12th grade English, Public Speaking, and Journalism.

Mr. Nath taught countless numbers of students how to be exceptional journalists. For years, he guided the newspaper staff towards reporting accurate and interesting stories. He held each of his reporters and editors to the high standard that professionals would be held. Sophomore Ella Mosco commented, “Mr. Nath taught us basic journalistic rules and made us live up to the journalistic standard.” 

Not only has he produced valuable writers, he has stood up for their right to free press. “One year, we had a big controversy when somebody wrote a negative review of American Sniper. People freaked out and threw the newspapers in the garbage and we got hate notes under the door. We had to stand up for our right to the first amendment,” Mr. Nath shared. 

Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Nath knows his sense of humor is unmatched. He never fails to put a smile on someone’s face, no matter the troubles they’re enduring. He takes his students’ well-being seriously. Not only is he their teacher, he is a friendly face and confidant. Sophomore Dominic Lonetti mentioned, “Mr. Nath not only made me a better speaker, reader, and conversationalist, but he was always there for us as students personally. If you ever needed anything from him, he was always glad to help.” 

His love for his students is clear to his colleagues as well. “I was assigned to co-teach an English 11 course with [Mr. Nath] and it was a great class. He had a group of struggling readers and he chose the most interesting books to get them excited about reading. We read Another Kind of Monday and it takes place in Pittsburgh.  After reading, he organized a field trip to Pittsburgh to show the students many of the landmarks from the novel,” teacher Mrs. Kayla Stewart shared.

Although Mr. Nath is looking forward to retirement, he will also miss his students and classes he teaches. “I’ll miss Journalism. I think it’s important and it’s getting pushed aside in a lot of schools. In general, I like working with kids. I like interaction, giving you a hard time, all that stuff. I’ll miss it,” he expresses.

Mr. Nath has touched countless lives of students and teachers in his time here. His presence will be missed in this school. He is more than just a teacher – he is a colleague, a mentor and a friend to everyone.