Athos retires after 25 years of teaching math

KING CITY - After 25 years of teaching at King City High School, math teacher Dean Athos will retire after this school year. He is the only teacher retiring from South Monterey County Joint Union High School District.

“I taught every level of math except geometry,” said Athos. From general math to AP calculus, Athos is proud of his achievements in the last 25 years, most notably the developing of the AP calculus course at King City High School.

“We didn’t have enough kids to have a full class of AP calculus,” said Athos. “We helped San Lorenzo (the middle school at the time) develop an algebra one course so by the time that the students became seniors they were ready.” At the time, calculus was taught every other year.

After a plethora of jobs, one that stood out to Athos was working with youth. Athos said, “I worked as a counselor at a group home in Washington State.” He decided late in his career that he would become a teacher.

“My mom suggested I become a teacher,” said Athos. “She said you like kids and you like math.” Both Athos' parents were teachers.

Athos returned to school and graduated from the Eastern Washington University with a major in chemistry and education with a minor in math. “I grew up in San Francisco, then we moved up to Washington,” said Athos. He owned 40 acres of land, but moved to California to be closer to his family.

“My dad had heart attack and we moved to California to be closer to him,” said Athos. “It was the best decision I ever made. I don’t regret that for a second. I came down here and interviewed at different places. I wanted a place close enough to visit and I got a job offer here.” All 25 years of his teaching career were at King City High School.



For the complete article see the 06-06-2012 issue.