On the last days of a teaching career in Westbrook that spanned 44 years, retiring high school math teacher Wally Hayes is understandably emotional.
There are too many kids, too many classes and too many school years to think about. Looking back on his career and the lives he touched, Hayes’ mind jumps around, he takes long pauses, seemingly lost in the memories and perhaps unable to believe it’s over.
Hayes told himself some time ago that he’d retire when he had taught three generations in one family. Then, two years ago, Alex Mitchell walked into his class. Hayes had taught Mitchell’s mother and he was an advisor to Mitchell’s grandfather. Hayes said he knew then it was time for him to walk away. This year he did, teaching his last math class at Westbrook High School.
Looking back at it all, “Mr. Westbrook,” as Hayes is sometimes known, is content with his career and doesn’t doubt his choice for one second. He said he gained a great deal of satisfaction out of the little things he experienced over the years-a student finally understanding something after struggling, a former student coming to visit him and the e-mails he got after announcing his retirement from former students.
“Those things just mean so very, very much. That’s when you look at the teaching profession and say…yeah,” he said, pausing, tears welling in his eyes. “I certainly am glad it’s my life…no doubt.”
The last days of this, his final year, Hayes had trouble with his emotions, which he said had gone “crazy.” He said he kept them in check in front of his students pretty well, but the day before exams something happened that made that impossible.
In the first class of the day, he was reminiscing to his students about the last 44 years and Alex Mitchell came into the room. His mother, Bethany Murray-Mitchell, and his grandfather, Peter Murray, followed him. Hayes said he lost it when he saw them.
‘You name it, he did it’
Hayes has been a member of countless fraternal and service organizations both with the schools and outside of the schools.
He’s been involved in Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Boy Scouts and the Masons. He’s been the head of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Maine, the state executive director for Student Councils and the state chairperson for Presidential Classroom, which takes students on trips to Washington, D.C. In 2003, he was runner-up for Maine Teacher of the Year. As a notary, Hayes said he even had the honor of performing the wedding ceremonies of former students.
“You name it, he did it,” said Westbrook High School Principal Marc Gousse.
Ringing the bells
While there is no shortage of highlights in Hayes’ career, a couple things really stand out in his mind.
The first of these things is the Bell Ringers. When Hayes was still teaching at Westbrook Junior High, he created the group in 1966 to bridge a gap between athletes and the rest of the kids.
The group was an instant success, and in the 40 years since the group was formed, they’ve been all over. They played at civic groups, churches, schools, nursing homes, weddings and even at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Hayes said the biggest thing the Bell Ringers have ever done was a three-week European tour in 1974. Hayes and the students traveled to Ireland, England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Holland. They played at Blarney Castle in Ireland, Notre Dame in Paris and even at the papal summer residence for Pope Paul VI.
“It was just fantastic,” he said of the performance at Notre Dame Cathedral. “The Bell Ringers standing there on the main altar at Notre Dame and looking straight at that beautiful rose window…and the sound was just beautiful.”
Larry Dahms, who was one of the Bell Ringers that went on the trip, agreed with Hayes, saying the sound of the bells drew “literally thousands” of people in to the cathedral that day.
“The bells sang,” said Dahms. “The onlookers applauded upon completion of every song. An unforgettable performance.”
Putting on a show
During the 1970s, Hayes also organized a variety show put on by high-school students as a fundraiser. Hayes said he grew up when variety shows were common in Westbrook, and he thought it was a good idea for something different to do. He said in his teaching, he always looked for different things to keep the kids interested.
The show, “America, America,” was a success, he said, and something that was lasting. He said for the first couple years after the show, some of the students from the cast would gather under the streetlight in front of his house on the show’s anniversary and sing the songs from the show.
In keeping with the show’s theme, Hayes used the money raised from the show to buy an enormous American flag. He asked the school to put it up, but the school said it was too big, so he stored it in his attic.
It stayed there until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 gave him a reason to bring it out of storage.
Raising the flag
On that tragic day, Eric Dahms, son of Larry Dahms and a Bell Ringer like his father, told Hayes they needed to do something. Dahms told him he didn’t know what, but they needed to do something, Hayes said.
“I felt the need to show national support, even if we were just a speck on the map,” said Eric Dahms. “And Mr. Hayes and I agreed that hanging his enormous flag from the side of Westbrook High would present our shared feelings perfectly.”
And so they did. They dug the flag out of Hayes’ attic and hung it on one of the walls of the school.
“It was a striking, striking thing,” said Hayes. “And the kids…they were never going to forget that.”
Dahms said after people’s strong reactions to the flag, he and Hayes decided they would try to raise money to get the flag a big enough flagpole so it could go up as a memorial. Over the next year, they raised $15,000. On the first anniversary of the attacks, the Bell Ringers played in a ceremony that drew statewide attention and the flag was raised, where it still flies today.
Saying goodbye with a special gift
In his classroom, Hayes had framed pictures of Bell Ringers from over the years all around the walls. Two of the original group have since passed away. “That just doesn’t seem possible,” said Hayes.
The pictures were the last things to go from his classroom. Everything else he boxed up in the last days before the end of the school year. Then Hayes said goodbye.
The last day of classes before exams, the faculty surprised him with a small party before school. Everyone wore dresses and shirts and ties and jackets, the way Hayes always did, despite the more casual dress code for schools these days. He never could give up his old-school ways, no matter how much his students ribbed him.
At the end of that same day, Hayes said goodbye to his students and gave them all a gift to take away, a concrete reminder of what he thought of them. He gave them each a diamond chip telling them he believed they were all diamonds, just waiting to be shaped.
While Hayes honored his students with a gift, the school also honored Hayes. In honor of his dedication over the years, his devotion to his students, colleagues and the school community, as well as his integrity and professionalism, Westbrook High School officially declared June 7 as the Walter Hayes Day of Professionalism.
Getting ready to leave his classroom for the last time, Hayes summed up his career. “What a wonderful thing it is,” he said of teaching.
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