Three storied careers in the classroom are coming to an end this week as English teacher Donna Montague, resource teacher Sue Romoser and math teacher Jatinder Singh are retiring.
Montague is Cal’s longest tenured teacher, having taught on campus for at least part of the past five decades, while Singh has been a presence presiding over the math department for the last 20 years.
“I’m really sad that they are going to be leaving, but the amount of years they’ve put into one place is amazing,” Cal High Principal Demetrius Ball said. “I’m in awe of what they have done and the impact they have had on generations of students. They are going to be sorely missed.”
After an accomplished 38-year career teaching at Cal High, Montague is officially bidding adieu to Shakespeare, George Orwell and dozens of other literary giants in the classroom.
Known for her passion for literature and support of her students, Montague has left a lasting impact on generations of Cal students and staff.
Many of Montague’s students weren’t aware she is retiring, but she has planned this for years. Now, she hopes to spend more time with her family and ponder the next chapter of her life.
“I feel very sad,” senior Wahid Aziz said. “She is an awesome teacher and I feel like students who would have [had] her in the future would have really liked her.”
Montague started teaching back on Cal’s original campus when the school boasted about 1,600 students and didn’t feature the modern upgrades that student enjoy today.
From transitioning from the old “pod” classrooms to Room 317 in the main building’s new-look campus in 2006 to integrating technology into her teaching, Montague has adapted with the times since starting her career as an educator in 1986.
“When I started here it was in the old pods in the old building,” Montague said. “We were a much smaller school, so we’ve almost doubled in size since I started working.”
Over the years, Montague has taught all four grade levels and almost every available English course, including advanced and honors classes. AP United States History and world geography teacher Jackson Collins is one of Montague’s former students who returned to campus as an educator.
“She is the pinnacle of professionalism when it comes to teaching,” Collins said. “She is awesome.”
After going through the process of becoming a teacher himself, Collins recognizes Montague’s genuine passion for teaching and all the techniques he saw her apply while in her class. Montague’s design for assessments and projects emphasize that students have a choice, which he enjoyed.
Montague taught her students many informational and grammatical mechanics at the beginning of the year which helped her those that are seniors review for college applications.
“She helped develop my voice in my writing,” said senior Dannika Shah, who had Montague during her sophomore and senior years.
Many students’ favorite memories in Montague’s class are her projects where they acted out book scenes they read. Students also note that Montague taught them skills that could be applied outside of the classroom in the real world.
“She taught us how to make a resume at the beginning of the year,” senior Adelene Mobarak said.
Montague’s fondest memory at Cal was meeting her husband, Richard Hight, who taught drama and English on campus before retiring in 2014.
Working with staff in the English department was a key reason why she stayed loyal to Cal for so long. Even after spending a brief semester at San Ramon Valley and Monte Vista high schools in Danville, she returned to Cal, where she stayed ever since. Montague remained so loyal to the school because of the flexibility it offered.
“[Cal] kind of has that bolt that gives you a lot of support, but also lets you try something new,” Montague said.
Now that she’s leaving, Montague hopes some all-staff traditions from past years will make a return. These include activities before homecoming, including tailgates and potlucks that once brought the entire faculty together.
“I’m going to have a hard time walking away from the people who I work with and the wonderful students that I’ve had every year,” Montague said. “The best part of the job is coming in here and having wonderful students to spend time with.”
As a resource teacher, Romoser worked with Montague and many other teachers on campus during her 23 years at Cal. She originally started teaching at Cal when the campus had its old look. She noted the transition to the new main building was definitely one of the biggest changes she’s experienced during her two-plus decades at Cal.
“It’s been a wonderful ride,” Romoser said.
Montague and Romoser are not the only longtime Cal teachers saying goodbye to their classrooms.
In the corner of Room 212, where students are excitedly gathered around whiteboards and desks to work together, sits Singh, Cal’s longtime AP Calculus BC and Honors Precalculus and Trigonometry teacher.
After 22 years of teaching, 20 at Cal, Singh is bidding farewell. Many students are sad to see him go.
“I don’t think he teaches as a job, he doesn’t see it as a job but I think he’s genuinely passionate about math,” senior Raniya Taj said. “The way he teaches problem solving is very different from a lot of textbooks. I think it definitely taught me a different way of looking at math in general.”
Singh attended the Delhi Indian Institute of Technology, which has an acceptance rate of less than 3%. There, he earned a degree in electrical engineering and then completed his management degree at the Indian Institute of Management.
Although he was initially in the corporate sector, Singh decided to switch fields when his daughter had a bad experience in a Cal math class. He quit his corporate job and earned his teaching credential. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I thought that there were many other things which I could probably do a better job [of], in terms of explaining the concepts,” Singh said. “I felt that my skills and my knowledge could possibly help students far more than contributing to the bottom line of [the] corporate sector.”
Students say the career switch gave Singh a unique perspective on teaching that other teachers may not have.
“He’s really good at connecting the things that he teaches to the real world and showing us how the things he teaches relate to his engineering career,” junior Stephanie Moore said.
AP Statistics teacher Janice Saiki said Singh is responsible for her becoming a teacher because when she was considering changing careers from engineering to teaching he invited her to sit in during his class.
Saiki said she reached out to the school’s math department to observe a class and Singh was the only one who responded. Had he not done that, Saiki said she’s not sure she would have switched careers.
Saiki admires how Singh treats his students. Many teachers coddle their students, but Singh holds his to a high, but attainable, standard.
“He sets his expectations and expects his students to meet them,” Saiki said. “But he also provides support so that they can.”
Singh’s favorite thing about teaching is how his students’ youth and energy makes him more energetic.
“They’re like a sponge,” Singh said. “They can absorb so much knowledge, provided you make it interesting for them.”
Aside from his teaching, students also admire Singh’s kindness toward them.
“He genuinely cares about his students,” Moore said.
During retirement, Singh plans to pursue his various hobbies. He’s already ran two half marathons and intends to complete at least one every year. He is also looking forward to having more time to work on painting and sketching projects.
Most importantly, he wants to be with his family more. Because he spent years travelling for his corporate job, he couldn’t spend as much time with his family as he would’ve liked.
“Now is the time I can spend some more time with them, have holidays together,” Singh said.
But Singh says he will miss the students he has nurtured.
“Every day is a challenge. Every day is also fun,” Singh said. “Look at the way the children are engaged, there’s always a lot of energy in my class and that’s what I will miss.”
Students and staff are still sad to see him go after the impact Singh has left on the school.
“I feel like everyone automatically associates Calc BC with Mr. Singh,” junior Apoorva Gudisay said. “He’s been here for so long and everyone’s like, ‘It’s Mr. Singh’s class.’ It’s not even Calc BC.”
