Many teachers at Chelsea could say that they’ve taught more than two people in one family, most of the time their brothers, sisters, or cousins. However, not many can say they’ve taught parents of current students, but that’s not the case for math teacher Lonnie Mitchell.

“I have taught in Chelsea since 1988, so this would be my 36th year here,” Mitchell said. “I previously taught and coached in Texas for five years, so I’ve been teaching for 41 years.”

Throughout 41 years of teaching, a lot could happen and lots of changes could be made. One of the biggest changes for Mr. Mitchell was switching schools. In 1998, Chelsea rebuilt the high school just right across the street. The old high school is now used as a preschool, robotics, and STEM classes, a retirement center, sporting events, and various other things.

“The biggest difference is moving to the new high school,” Mitchell said. “The students are not running around in between classes with snowball fights and water gun battles outside anymore.”

Even though moving to the new high school was a huge difference for everyone in the community, there were some things and a few flaws to get used to; nothing was perfect at the new high school just yet.

“We didn’t have any technology at the new high school yet; the typing class had manual typewriters,” Mitchell said.

Within his 41 years of teaching and 36 years at Chelsea, Mr. Mitchell has had plenty of encounters with his students, some memorable and some not. But some of his best full-circle moments as a teacher are getting to teach different generations of families.

“Some of my best encounters were when I taught the parents of some students,” Mitchell said. “I currently teach about a dozen students that I also taught their parents.”