Husband and Wife Duo Retire from Saul

Dave and Pam Snyder met at W.B. Saul High School in Roxborough.  They got married there; they taught together, and now, they’re both retired—together. 

“I was a student here.  I married my wife here,” Dave said.

Pam cut him off, “You’d be buried here if they let you.”

Together, the Snyders taught in the agriculture department at Saul.  Dave taught veterinary science while Pam taught retail floristry. 

“Nothing else topped this,” Pam said.  “The longer I worked here, things just kept getting better and better.”

Dave said part of what made the job so rewarding was the uniqueness of the school and program.

“I don’t want this to be just another school,” Dave said.  “I have a real concern and a real love for this place.”

Saul is one of the few urban agriculture high schools in the nation.  The Snyders said that whenever another city or even country wants to set up an agriculture program they always come to visit.

“You have a lot of energetic and passionate people here,” Pam said.  “The people here don’t just teach and let go.  They live here.”

Part of that dedication stems from the high school’s unique programs.  The teachers at Saul teach what they are passionate about, and that passion translates down to the students.

“We weren’t just handed a book and told to teach what was in the book,” Dave said.  “We got to develop our own programs, and we were inspired daily.

Pam added, “the students here have a lot of firsts.  A lot of them come face-to-face with a dairy cow for the first time.”

Dave added, “It’s very easy for the students to understand how what they learn in the classroom has effects in the real world.  For example, if you do your math wrong when you’re giving an animal medicine, if you give the wrong dose, the animal dies.”

“Everything has a consequence, and you learn from those consequences in very real ways,” Dave said. 

“What I love about this place is that the kids can always come back, and see their work.  They can see trees they planted, or animals they cared for,” Pam said.

She added, “There are things they do here that they can come back and show their grandkids.” 

“People always say that I don’t look old enough to retire,” Pam said.  “I always think that I don’t feel old because I worked here.”

Click here to read about retired Saul teacher Barbara Brown

Click here to read about all five Saul teacher's retiring this year