Josh Stutsman and Abigail Ernst are leaving after winter break. Abigail Ernst is a beloved chorus teacher at Mt. Pleasant Middle School and High School. She also teaches advanced choir, orchestra, and leads the song writing club. Josh Stutsman is an 11th grade English teacher, who also has taught creative writing, communications, and public speaking. Both Ernst and Stutsman are leaving to reconnect with their families in Galesburg. They will both be continuing their education career in a smaller school, with only 300 students. 

They both have very similar reasons for moving to this smaller town, to visit with their families and reconnect with friends. They will continue pursuing their teaching careers, in fact this is Ernst’s dream job. She will be taking over her old chorus teacher’s job, who first inspired Ernst to pursue her career. Ernst admits this was a hard decision, and it will be difficult for her to leave. During her time here at Mt Pleasant High School in the Fine Arts department she built a community, starting with only 5 students in her virtual chorus class. She now teaches four fine arts classes and has built a large and beautiful community. Ernst leaves this message for the future community of the fine arts department, “The community is the core of the fine arts, and if you keep that community close and kind the program will continue to grow and it has so much potential.” 

Mr Stutsman has the same reasons as Ernst, he will be moving closer to his family who he has been apart from for 11 years. Stutsman says he has no regrets but he does wish he worked with the musical program sooner. His message to the future teachers and students, “Keep an open mind. Never assume you’re the smartest in the room. Everyone has different beliefs or views, everyone will always have a different view. You don’t want to put yourself above anyone, create a good environment.” His favorite part about working here was working with other professionals as well as seeing the creativity and passion in young people.

Mr. Stutsman and Ms. Ernst are adored by their students and will be missed by everyone. We hope even with their brief time at the school their legacies will live on well past their years.