It’s 6:30 am, 2 hours before second period starts. Calculus teacher Lydia Coyle drops off her son for band’s zero hour. As she sits at her desk, a couple of students come in, asking for help. The students leave for first period, first period is her conference period. She goes to make copies for her classes. As she walks in she takes a long look at her box. It is filled with paperwork for the district. She doesn’t know when there will be time to finish it all. The bell rings, the students walk in, one by one, and her frown slowly turns into a smile.

According to a study by Richard Ingersoll, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, 40 to 50 percent of teachers spend an average of five years at a school before they leave, either to teach at another school or to pursue another career.

Coyle has been teaching math at Rider for 15 years and has thought about leaving before, sometimes “multiple times a day.”

“The pay is bad,” Coyle said. “The bureaucratic paper work is really bad. Pats on the back are few and far between and the amount of work is overwhelming.”

The one thing that keeps her going, though, is the students.

“[When] the students walk in I feel a bit better,” she said. “They always brighten my day.

English teacher Sandra Scheller, who has been here for 30 years, was surprised to learn how many teachers actually leave.

“I knew about teachers leaving the profession, but I didn’t think the number of years was so small,” she said. “I gave myself a five year plan when I started, and after five years I decided if I didn’t like it, I would do something else. About halfway through the second year I realized I was loving what I was doing and got rid of the five-year plan and made teaching my passion.”

Although Scheller couldn’t relate to those wanting to quit, she understands their reasoning.

“Most teachers have this idealized memory of what high school was like for us,” Scheller said. “It never really was that way and then when they get here they realize that these kids are not what they thought. You either have to adapt or you have to find another job.”

Science teacher Bryce Henderson who has taught for two years makes it a point to help teachers around him if they ask for help as he, too, knows the “stressful” perks of teaching.

“It’s definitely an intensive job,” Henderson said. “You put in a lot of time outside the classroom to prepare, to grade stuff, to get things ready over the weekend. It can take a lot out of you, but I believe it’s worth it.”

According to Salary.com and Access2Knowledge.org, the average teacher in Wichita Falls makes around $50,000 a year, but as many teachers say, money isn’t the main reason why they teach.

“I really like the moment when you can see somebody gets it,” Henderson said. “The light turns on in their head and something makes sense. And also just helping a student realize that they can do this. They’ll think it’s impossible and then they realize they get a problem right.”