As the year comes closer to an end, faculty members and teachers begin to prepare for the end of the year. Some staff members such as Barb Goddard prepare themselves for retirement. Goddard has been the librarian and head of the VLC staff for 27 years and plans on retiring this year after the 2023-24 school year.

The VLC hosts many students throughout the day to either wait there for Area 31, offer a plethora of reading material for any students’ assignments, help from the technology desk when a student’s Chromebook is having troubles, and many more services offered to assist students.

The VLC is located straight ahead when somebody enters the main front door, the VLC also connects different classrooms. Including Ada Clark’s freshman English class and her journalism class, Allyson Avery’s photography class, the study hall room, and the broadcast studio.

Goddard has worked at MHS for 27 years, having been working at different elementary schools in Clinton, Indiana, north of Terre Haute. Goddard then went on to work at three other elementary schools in Rushville, and the middle school, Goddard settled here at MHS in 1997. Goddard also shared her experience here.

“Fabulous, couldn’t have asked for a better place to work at or people to work with,” Goddard said.

“I learned a lot that year, I had not done high school libraries but I had worked with younger students in the library,” Goddard said.

Goddard has had an extraordinary career here at MHS and she is thankful for all of those that has helped her get comfortable here when she was brand new and all of the people she has continued to enjoy her time with and work with since then. Goddard has helped many students in many different ways throughout multiple school years and many students are sad that she is leaving but are glad that she gets to relax in retirement now.

“Mrs. Goddard has always been respectful and helpful whenever I needed it… she will always take time out of her day or stop what she’s doing to help, it’s going to be hard seeing her go,” Sophomore Gavin Cross said.

Overall, students and staff alike are very sad that Mrs. Goddard is leaving, but they are happy that she will get time to relax and enjoy herself in retirement.