BETHEL – Wayne Howe graduated from Telstar Regional High School, and in June, he will retire after teaching sixth-graders at Telstar Middle School for 32 years.

“I feel comfortable with the sixth-grade. Once I start something, I like to stay with it,” the Bryant Pond resident said. “In sixth-grade, they’re still kids.”

Howe, 57, was at the middle school when the philosophy of team teaching began in 1977.

“It was the best thing. We talk about the same kids, there’s support, there’s planning,” he said.

Team teaching involves a group of teachers who jointly teach a particular grade in all the subjects. Howe has taught social studies for most of his years, with occasional classes in science or reading. There are 65 sixth-graders in this year’s class.

Howe decided to retire this year while he still enjoys teaching.

“The door is open. It’s a stressful job with constant changes,” he said.

But he said he will miss it when autumn arrives and he isn’t there.

“When you’ve done something for so long, there’s an emptiness,” he said.

He said he’ll miss the students as well as the camaraderie with his fellow teachers, and their “crazy” lunches.

Howe is retiring at the same time as his friend and fellow teacher, Leonard Hoy.

Howe plans to devote more time to an interest he uses in the classroom and in the district: video taping and broadcasting.

For many years, he has video taped and broadcasted Telstar High School basketball games. He’s a volunteer with Western Hills Access Television, the local cable access channel.

Once retired, he plans to work part time as a station manager for the service.

Howe graduated from Telstar in 1970 and the University of Maine at Farmington in 1974 with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education. He later completed course work so he could teach on the elementary level.

His wife, Marilyn, is the guidance secretary at the high school.

They have three adult children and one grandchild.