Being a good teacher consists of many aspects: teaching skills, patience and hard-work, but Major John Farese was far more than that for his students.
“He is a big guide in my life when it comes to direction and stuff, and he’s really good at giving life lessons,” senior Ava Wenger, who has been in JROTC for her entire high school career, said. “Because of him, I am interested in [joining the] Air Force after college, when I graduate … and [him] just being really good moral support too.”
Her experience reflects Farese’s goals in his job.
“I hope … besides being a teacher of lessons and information, I hope I’ve been a mentor to kids and helping guide them through … this difficult period of being a teenager and then helping them become something … more themselves later on, whether it’s in the military or not. You know, the majority of our kids do not go into [the] military, so … my job’s just … been to help them through … this process … it’s been great,” Farese said.
He was not always a teacher, however. Before his teaching career, he worked in the military.
“My career in the military was awesome. I got to fly airplanes all over the world and do things that … you read in the news. So that was … pretty fulfilling, but definitely this job has been just as much, if not more, on a personal level,” Farese said. “I’ve been very, very fortunate to … come to Wando High School, which has been a great school.”
Even though both jobs have been very fulfilling for him, they have not always been easy.
“We stay here ‘till late at night, and we work almost every weekend. We work through the summer and so I think I really haven’t had the chance to have a break in the last 18 years. So that’s why I’m kind of looking forward to it a little bit,” Farese said.
Farese already knows what he, and especially his family will be looking forward to in his retirement.
“The chance to travel a little bit more, my daughter and her family live in Austin … and she pretty much said she was going to disown me if I didn’t retire and come visit … When my daughter was growing up, being in the military, I was deployed a lot so I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her. So this will be my chance to spend a little … more time with my family,” Farese said.
Senior Jackson Pollock knows about Farese’s hopes in retirement.
“I hope he ends up doing whatever makes him happy. I hope he gets to spend more time with his grandson and with his daughter,” Pollock said.
Pollock also remembers all the efforts Farese does for Wando outside of the JROTC classroom.
“He also really does a lot for all of the areas of the school, supporting … athletic programs, supporting kids going into college, [and] all of the kids from Wando that go to like a service academy. All of them go through him. He does their fitness tests and helps them apply and everything so I think he’s just a really great resource. And then having someone that’s been here so long, [has] really impacted a lot of the faculty, I think. I think everybody knows him and sees him as just a really helpful person,” Pollock said.
Wenger is excited to see him continue his legacy outside of this school.
“I really just hope Major enjoys his retired life, and I really hope that he continues to do great things in life, even though I’m pretty sure he will, knowing how much of a helper he is,” Wenger said.
But no matter how much he looks forward to the chances and opportunities of his retired life, leaving will be hard.
“My favorite part of the job is, actually, is them. You know, the cadets that are here. You know, they’re just all wonderful people and so that’s going to be the tough part of leaving,” Farese said. “I keep in touch with a lot of them, and now that most of them are adults and they have kids and they’re families … you kind of build this really close, almost, you know, parent child type relationship.”
