After working in accounting, finance, and insurance for the first few years of his post-college career, Glen Mehrings didn’t feel like he could stay in those fields for 30 to 40 years.

He returned to school to earn his teaching certification and was hired at Rochelle Township High School in the fall of 1993 to teach computer software. He’ll retire this month after 33 years as an RTHS computer and math teacher and 30 years as the school’s head golf coach.

“I made a change and went back to school, and my wife, Kathy, supported me through that change,” Mehrings said. “I knew teaching would be a good career to have with a family. And I always enjoyed learning, and how fun it was to be around teenagers and sports. I love the atmosphere of the high school. Rochelle has been so supportive in the classroom and in athletics. I never wanted to leave.”

In the first half of his career at RTHS, Mehrings taught computer software classes in Microsoft Excel and basic programming. He was then asked to teach math, went back to school to earn his certification, and has taught it since. He also taught a consumer education class.

Mehrings estimates he’s taught over 3,000 students in his time at RTHS. He enjoyed teaching diverse subjects to different age groups over his years at the school. In his time teaching math, he liked seeing students understand a concept and become better thinkers and more confident in solving problems.

“You don’t have control over where education is going sometimes, and you have to adapt,” Mehrings said. “As long as you enjoy being in a classroom with kids and learning and trying to help, it’s never a problem. I’ve always enjoyed it. You have to meet kids where they’re at and treat them differently when they’re at different places in their learning and lives. You learn a lot of different personalities through teaching that many students.”

Mehrings played golf in high school and college. Later on, he found more of a desire to work with young people on the game. He was an assistant golf coach early in his RTHS career before becoming head coach in 1996. He also assisted in coaching baseball and tennis.

In his final season as RTHS’s head golf coach in the fall, the team went to sectionals with an 11-1 record, falling only to state-caliber teams. Mehrings closed his coaching career on a high note.

“Golf should be fun and enjoyable,” Mehrings said. “It’s a microcosm of life; what you put into it is what you get out of it. We had a lot of players who worked hard and got better, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them improve. We had some lean years, but for the most part, we always had a group of 5-15 golfers that always wanted to play golf. I wanted to be a part of that, because it made me feel like I was 18 again.”

After navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in teaching and watching his final years in the classroom go by, Mehrings said he’s seen education “get tighter and better,” and he’s come to appreciate RTHS faculty and students more.

“I enjoy talking with the students,” Mehrings said. “I learn from them as much as they learn from me. You need to be in tune with what they need in the classroom. You can’t just push education onto them. You have to be able to share it with them and present it in a way that they’ll accept it, learn from it, and hopefully make better decisions. That’s all I’ve wanted in 33 years, to help students become better lifelong learners.”

In retirement, Mehrings plans to spend more time with family, be active, and find a part-time job where he can continue to help people. He’ll miss the relationships, learning, fun, coaching, and camaraderie with teachers. He thanked the school’s administration for its leadership over 33 years.

“It will be strange to not come back here in the fall to teach and coach golf,” Mehrings said. “I’ll miss it. It will be nice to find a new challenge and a new way to help people. I’ve been blessed to be here helping students for so many years, and I want to find a new way to do that.”

Mehrings hopes that his former golfers remember his anecdotal help on the golf course, and that his former students remember the way he treated them like adults in the classroom.

“High school students are inexperienced and raw, but they just need help,” Mehrings said. “They’re more adults than kids. I always tried to treat them like adults, because that’s how they wanted to be treated. Hopefully, they remember that and that I gave them responsibility and helped with that responsibility. I always told them they earned their grade. Most students want to do well, and that’s great to see. I hope they realize that I wanted the best for them and I wanted to help them achieve it.”