After 10 years of sharing his chemistry knowledge with students, Ken Wieder will be retiring and leaving the D200 hallway at the end of the school year.

“Wieder added stability to our AP Chem courses and solidified the curriculum,” fellow chemistry teacher Gerald Cushing said. “He has been an anchor in the development of AP Chem. Wieder is incredibly knowledgeable, he has a PhD in Chem and he’s a great resource for teachers to learn from and ask questions.”

Although teaching was a second career for Wieder, he had some prior experience as a teacher before coming to Algonquin.

“I was simply looking for a teaching job,” Wieder said. “Previously I was a research scientist, but I did a little teaching as well.”

Students praise Wieder for his ability to make class fun and exciting.

“He is so funny,” sophomore Jenny Lambert said. “Sometimes in the middle of class, he’ll just randomly sing or scream out songs. Chem can be pretty boring, but he makes it interesting by relating it back to the real world or funny things.”

“I turned teaching into an acting job because I’m really disappointed Hollywood never discovered me,” Wieder laughed. “Teaching really is like acting or improv; there are no second takes. Every day you have to feel out the mood of the class before deciding what to do next. ”

Wieder loves to teach, and his students made his job special.

“I’m absolutely going to miss my students and the relationships built over the years,” Wieder said.

Not only will Wieder be missed by his students, but also by his colleagues.

“I’m for sure going to miss the camaraderie and the occasional Friday afternoon trips to the local pub; he’s a really good guy,” Cushing said. “I’m going to miss having a good quality friend across the hall.”