Like Mother (and Father), Like Daughter

Eudora High School will be saying goodbye to three well-known teachers as the 2015-16 school year wraps up. Junior English teacher Matt Bova special education teacher Becky Goodwin and advanced mathematics teacher Kendra Cooper will be finalizing their time at EHS and moving onto the next chapter in their lives.

Cooper has been an Algebra 2, Precalculus and Calculus teacher at Eudora for three years. Growing up, Cooper spent much of her time on the basketball court putting in great amounts of effort and hard work to earn a scholarship to play at Baker University. Before coming to EHS, she worked at Washburn Rural Alternative High School and coached girls’ basketball. Next year, Cooper will teach at Truman High School in Independence, Missouri. There, she will teach Algebra 2 Honors and the Essentials of Math 3 and 4, while also coaching girls’ basketball.

“I will truly miss the staff here at EHS,” said Cooper. “Never have I felt more love and compassion from colleagues.”

Matt Bova has been a teacher at Eudora for 28 years, teaching classic American literature ranging from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to The Great Gatsby. Years ago, Bova was inspired to become an English teacher by a former teacher of Bova’s, Joe Lieber. After attending Washburn University, Bova had decided to travel to South Korea to become an ESOL teacher. After a few months, he travelled back to Kansas and was hired to teach English at Eudora High. Since then, Bova has become a perennial favorite teacher amongst students.

As his last year is coming to an end, Bova’s sole focus is on being able to absorb all that’s left of this year and being able to cherish the moments as they come and go. Bova doesn’t want to focus yet on future plans because he sees the importance in continuing to devote his energy to his current students while he is still here at Eudora High School.

“When I leave Eudora, I’ll miss the students, the smiles, the good mornings, the how are you’s,” said Bova. “Just the whole fabric of relationships that are possible when you teach. All of those things that make it fun to wake up in the morning.”

Goodwin has been a life skills and special ed teacher at Eudora for eight years. Before coming to EHS, Goodwin taught at the Kansas State School for the Deaf for 25 years, and later in the Olathe Schools for five years as an educational technology resource teacher. In 1995, Goodwin earned the Kansas Schools Teacher of the Year Award and has continued making a positive impact on her students ever since.

“When I leave Eudora, I will miss how attached I am to the students,” said Goodwin. “They are so friendly and kind here. Because it is a smaller school we get to see each other every day and we get to talk a lot more than you typically would in a bigger school.”