After three decades of teaching at South High, Mr. Peter Gottfried is retiring, leaving behind a legacy of leadership and dedication appreciated by both students and faculty alike.
Mr. Gottfried’s love for teaching originates on the West Coast. It was in California where he was working as a counselor at a rehabilitation home that he first discovered what his calling was. “My roommate started telling me about his friend who was a special education teacher. He started talking about her lifestyle, and I still remember how I felt at that moment: Everything was starting to click and come into a beautiful focus for me.”
As both a special education teacher and dean at South, Mr. Gottfried strived to support South’s students as they grew throughout their four years, especially in unique circumstances. “If I had to point to achievement, it was being able to provide the class of 2020 seniors who graduated during COVID with a special series of events. It helped them finish their high school career on a more fun and positive note.”
Inside the classroom Mr. Gottfried dedicated his career towards building meaningful relationships with his students. “I’ve always connected with students very well. But if I couldn’t reach certain students or small groups of kids the way they needed, it got to me. In most cases, when I saw those kids years later, they expressed how grateful they were for my effort.”
While some may view teaching as a one way street, Mr. Gottfried is immensely grateful for the lessons being an educator has taught him. “Teaching helped me talk in front of groups, which in turn helped foster my leadership skills,” he said.
Throughout the past thirty years, Mr. Gottfried looks back at his time at South as, fulfilling. “My department has been nothing short of phenomenal and supportive. Getting to work with young people everyday is not only a great opportunity but truly a blessing. There’s nothing I haven’t loved for the past thirty years at South; it’s a second home to me.”
As he begins to plan his time outside of the building, Mr. Gottfried is preparing to prosper in his pickleball career and to sink a hole-in-one on the green. Beyond that, he’ll continue with his favorite pastime: hot yoga.
While you’ll no longer be able to spot Mr. Gottfried chatting it up with his friends in the building, taking inconspicuous walks throughout the courtyard, or catching a quick workout in the weight room, his dedication to his students will be deeply appreciated by our community at Great Neck South. He reminds us all that, “If you work a job you love, you truly never work a day in your life.”
