Freshman Success and Psychology With Teams teacher Mr. Johnson has taught for 20 years and has spent 14 of those years teaching at Tahoma High School.

He remains a popular educator among both THS staff and students alike, and is known for his ability to connect with people both in and out of the classroom.

However, this beloved THS educator has announced his retirement, with the goal of supporting his family during a time of positive change at the end of this semester.

Johnson expresses that though he is a renowned and well-known teacher in the Maple Valley community himself, he believes that his greatest achievement was enabling his students to positively impact the world around them.

He claims that the best thing about teaching is “…the daily engagement that I get with students. It’s fun, challenging, never the same everyday.” 

Akshita Agarwal, a Sophomore at THS, has taken several of Johnson’s classes. Agarwal describes Johnson as someone who “…takes the time to understand students as people, rather than kids.”

She explains that “…he sets reasonable ground rules that keep us [students] on track, but doesn’t restrict us.”

An anonymous freshman who took his Freshman Success class during first semester recalls frequenting Johnson’s classroom, due to it being “…a place where students can work in a productive environment.”

He also provides advice—to both teachers and students alike.

The best quality, in Johnson’s opinion, is to be “willing to take risks, [and] struggle when things are hard.”

For teachers, he advises that the best qualities for a teacher to have include “flexibility and remembering that students need grace.”

He expresses that “Curriculum and subject are important but you need to build those relationships.”

Though he may be retiring this year, Johnson has positively impacted the hundreds of students that have moved through THS over the course of the past 14 years.