Teachers’ recollections of Karen Hyde

Ms. Hyde working at the office during after hours.

Retiring assistant principal Karen Hyde has helped many teachers inside and outside the classroom.

Freshmen chanted, “Move her hands, move her hands.”

Back in 1997, as biology teacher Lisa Cochrum was teaching class, she got angry and slammed the whiteboard across, causing the top bolts to fall out. In order to prevent the board from completely falling over, Cochrum had to hold it up with her hands. After Cochrum’s teacher’s assistant ran to get assistant principal Karen Hyde and informed her that the whiteboard fell on Cochrum, Hyde ran into the room. Hyde had a medical kit and a wheelchair, thinking that Cochrum was severely injured. She saw Cochrum and burst out in laughter.

“This is my favorite memory because Hyde was coming to my room thinking I was dead the whole time,” Cochrum said. “But as soon as she got to the room she saw me holding the whiteboard up and just cracked up laughing.”

Even now, whenever Cochrum sees her college friend, an SHS grad, the first question the friend asks is “How are you?”; the second question is “How is Mrs. Hyde?”

“That’s the kind of depth of impact that Karen has had on our student body,” Cochrum said. “Whether it be our students or kids that are my age that have been out of high school for 20 years.”

Looking back, Cochrum remembers one time when Hyde decided to team up with AP US History teacher Matthew Torrens to pull a prank on her. The two started sending in yellow slips to pull out students. At first it was just one or two slips and after each 10 minute interval, about 5 to 10 slips were sent in to pull out students.

“I said listen, we’re trying to do a lab here, you need to hurry. Whatever Mrs. Hyde needs you for, you need to get it done quick,” Cochrum said. “But then more slips were coming in and I went out to look, and just around the corner stood Mr. Torrens and Ms. Hyde with all of my students standing with them.”

As a biology teacher, Cochrum can always turn to Hyde for advice since Hyde was a former biology teacher herself.

“I typically go to her when I don’t know how to handle a situation. Because of her experience and because of the variety of things that she’s covered on this campus, she is a great person for wisdom and discernment on stuff,” Cochrum said.

Cochrum added, “It’s going to be a little overwhelming when she leaves. We’re going to realize everything she does for us once she’s gone.”