On Feb. 4, Antioch Community High School math teacher Terry Dewing returned to her classroom after missing two months for medical reasons. The students of her math 3 honors, AP statistics and probability classes welcomed her with open arms. Dewing was happy that the student reception of her return was positive.

“It is heartbreaking to not be here to help students in class,” Dewing said. “A lot of teachers come back to me and say the students are glad to have me back.”

Dewing started her absence on Dec. 4, 2018, to the surprise of her students. While out of school, she was instructed to stay at home to heal. In this time she watched Netflix and prepared to return to her classes. Freshman Rodolfo Martinez recalled his initial thoughts on Dewing’s absence.

“I feel like people were confused and worried at first,” Martinez said. “It is rough to be out for so long and [then to] come back.”

Dewing is set to leave again soon for knee surgery. She expects to return after her surgery is complete to finish teaching her students math. Dewing recalled the initial reactions of her students when they first saw her back and teaching.

“The smiles on the kids’ faces when they see me and they give me a hug and say I’m glad your back,” Dewing said. “A lot of kids connect with the way that I explain concepts.”

For her students, the week gives them an opportunity to learn the necessary concepts of Dewing’s classes from their teacher. After her two month absence, students were pleased to get the help they needed that was not accessible from a substitute. Sophomore Madison Maish was happy to see Dewing return as she liked her as a resource.

“Having our original teacher back is nice, getting a couple of lessons and seeing that she’s okay, that’s good,” Maish said. “It was nice to hear about what happened and we got more information in the subject than before.”

Dewing will return to teach for the rest of the year after her surgery and hopes to continue helping her students.