SHS teacher Mark Carter welcomes retirement with open arms

To say Mark Carter is anxiously awaiting retirement is an understatement. The veteran teacher, who has spent his 34-year teaching career at Salem High School, will lock his classroom door for the last time on May 21.

Carter graduated from SHS in 1981 and had a vague idea of becoming a lawyer. He went to Indiana University in Bloomington and majored in political science. After that first year, he decided that was not the major for him and switched to English the following year. 

“Although I still had no idea what I wanted to do!” he laughed. 

He graduated in 1985 and went to University of California Berkeley to get his master’s degree. He wanted to get a Ph.D. and teach English at the college level. 

“However, I didn’t like grad school,” he said, adding that he spent one and a half years there before heading home to Salem.

He spent two to three years substitute teaching and really enjoyed it, deciding that becoming a high school teacher sounded like a good path.

“I went back to IU and went through the teacher education program,” he said, explaining that he needed to take education classes to get his teaching certification. 

He finished the program teaching at Silver Creek and had no intention of going back to Salem.

“I applied all over the country!” he said. “The plan was to not come back here!”

However, that’s exactly where he landed in 1992, when Brady Wells resigned his position to go to Scottsburg. Carter was 29 years old at the time. 

That first year, he had all freshmen and slowly, he started teaching seniors. Once Jeanne Bedwell retired, he became the senior English teacher.

“I did teach freshmen for 17 years though,” he said. “But if I had my choice, I like teaching senior English more than freshman English.”

In 2018, he started teaching Biblical Literature and in 2000 he added entomology to his curriculum. While Carter has enjoyed teaching these two English electives, he definitely enjoys English literature the most. In fact, it’s his favorite part of the job.

“I love that I get to teach literature that I love!” he said.

Besides teaching a subject he is passionate about, Carter said he loves working with his students and laughing with them.

“The kids are not the reason I am retiring, that’s for sure!” he said. “I enjoy having fun with the kids. I want them to know they can have fun and still learn things!”

A fan of theater, Carter said he enjoys reading out loud, acting out scenes in the books they are reading and trying to make them laugh. 

“When they look back, hopefully they’ll remember something we did!” he said. 

He has seen many changes in education during his career, but said the use of technology in the classroom has been the biggest. He went from Scantron sheets for attendance and grades to a SMART Board for his daily lessons. 

Another big change has been the involvement at the state level in education requirements. Although he will miss teaching the literature and the students, he will not miss the bureaucracy of education. 

“The forms we have to fill out, records to keep, the tedious, pointless meetings, that I will not miss,” he said, adding that you can’t teach kids like a factory job. “They don’t all start the same and they don’t all end the same.”

Carter believes every child is unique and that’s how teachers have to approach their job.

He said he also won’t miss all the negativity toward education.

“It’s draining and I’m tired of teachers being a punching bag, which is what we’ve become,” he said. “It’s really always been that way, but now it’s just more public, thanks to the internet.”

When asked what he hopes his students remember about him, Carter said he hopes he is remembered for his love of teaching.

“I really love literature,” he said. “Maybe they won’t remember what we read, but they will remember the themes and messages that we discussed. 

“I also hope they remember that I cared about them.”

The teachers he remembers the most from his days at Salem Schools are who influenced him in his teaching style the most. Those teachers he remembers the most are Anne Terrell, Ginger Morris, Jim Ritz, Joanna Gili and Jeanne (Apple) Bedwell. 

“Mrs. Terrell and Mrs. Morris had good classroom control, but they also had a lot of fun with us,” he said. “I loved the sarcasm and wit. I just really liked the way they taught.”

He added that all of them were passionate about what they taught and cared about their students and that’s what he hopes his students remember about him as well.

In retirement, Carter plans to travel to places like Iceland, Alaska, Maine and back to visit more places in England.

“I also want to take a boat cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest,” he said. 

Carter said he will probably do some puzzles, get a dog and join the senior citizen center. He said people have told him that he will be lonely and miss the daily routine, but Carter said he has no problem being alone and is actually looking forward to it! 

After a long, fulfilling career, Carter is ready to move onto the next chapter and is happy to being doing it with a full heart of memories and gratitude. 

“I have enjoyed my time here,” he said. “I started teaching with teachers I had as a student and I’m finishing with teachers I had as students. It has truly come full circle.”