With the school year coming to an end, the Class of 2024 is getting ready to leave PHS for the last time at graduation. However, the graduating seniors will be accompanied by Resource Aid Bill Johnson this year while taking their last hallway strolls.
Johnson is going on his 17th year working at PHS. He started in August, 2001, after working for Carpenter Body Works and Visteon. Johnson jokes about his first meeting with then principal Jerry Stroud.
“When I first started talking to Jerry Stroud about coming here, he was a little apprehensive, because he said I had already closed two places down,” said Johnson.
When Johnson first started working at PHS he worked through the South Central Area Special Education Cooperative system, but soon shifted to PHS. That is when he started working as a resource aid at the school.
“The thing that I will miss the most is the tremendous leadership here (even if I couldn’t get them to join the Bill’s Mafia), the wonderful people that I have had the pleasure to work beside (Alexis and Alicia), and the great teachers that allowed me in their rooms. I will also miss the students that I have been able to work with and be around. Every year I will have students tell me I can’t leave until they graduate but then they go and more will tell me the same thing,” said Johnson.
During Johnson’s time here at PHS, he could always be found at the scorer’s table during home basketball games during the winter. Although he will
not be working with students anymore, he still plans on coming back and helping with the sporting events as he currently does.
After Johnson’s retirement, he plans to spend a lot more time doing things he enjoys outside of school. He and his wife spend a lot of time traveling, which he plans to spend more time doing once he is retired. They have been to 49 states, all except Alaska. Another traveling goal of theirs is to continue adding to their lighthouse visitations. Over the years, they have visited over 200 lighthouses.
“I’m looking forward the most to spending more time with my wife, Brenda, who has been my rock through my recent health issues. But, I’m mostly looking forward to not getting out and starting my truck on cold winter mornings. This is the first time I ever left a job on my own terms and it was
very hard coming to this decision. I want to thank everyone for being a part of my life,” said Johnson.
