There are formulas for thermodynamics and formulas for molarity, but is there a formula for saying goodbye to your home of 34 years?

After a long and successful career, North Penn Chemistry teacher Kathleen Groat is set to retire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

“I’ve been at North Penn for 34 years,” Groat explained.

Groat’s love for Chemistry started when she herself was a student in high school, fascinated by the subject and inspired by her Chemistry teacher.

“I had an amazing chem teacher when I was fifteen, a sophomore, and when she was teaching electron configuration I was like ‘Wow this is amazing, I want to do this,’” Groat shared.

Groat started her journey to becoming a teacher at Gannon University where she studied Chemistry.

“I went to Gannon University in Erie and I have a BS in Chemistry from there,” Groat said. “I student-taught and pretty much my first day into student teaching I thought ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

Although Groat eventually realized that teaching was her passion, she explored many other avenues of the Chemistry field prior to student teaching.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a teacher or not. I had taken the LSATS and I had thought about becoming a patent attorney. I thought about going into pharmacy, and a lot of other things, but I finished my teaching degree in three and a half years,” Groat said.

When starting her job search, Groat applied to many different school districts throughout Pennsylvania, in hopes of finding a job that suited her perfectly. Groat planned on finding a job close to home but was quickly scouted by a member of the North Penn HR Department.

“When I started teaching, there was a recession so there were no jobs. There are 500 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania, and I applied to 50 of them to find a chemistry position,” Groad explained. “I thought I was going to get a job outside of Erie, where I was living then, and then that fell through. I ended up meeting with the HR Director at North Penn. He used to recruit in Western Pennsylvania because he felt that people from Western PA had a very good work ethic, and he was right because I’m retiring with two dear friends who are a year ahead of me and were all from Western PA.”

To her surprise, after a lot of time and consideration, Groat and her fiance packed up and moved to North Penn where she would begin her teaching career, raise her family, and fall in love with the district.

“I came out here for a job fair and interviewed and he asked how I would feel about meeting and I said “Oh yeah, I’d love to,” but in my head, I knew I would never move to Philadelphia,” Groat said. “It was really hard to move away. My husband and I were engaged at the time, he’s from Buffalo and I’m from Pittsburgh, so moving was a big choice and I knew we would never go back.”

For Groat, taking North Penn’s offer was more than just a job, it was a complete turnaround for her entire life.

“Well, I gave up everything to move here, the reason we moved here was my job. I feel incredibly invested in the district. It’s way more than a job,” Groat explained.

Forming chemical bonds isn’t the only thing Groat excels at, the bonds she has formed with North Penn staff members is the hardest part of saying goodbye.

“That’s what makes it hard to go, that all of the Chemistry teachers are just my dearest friends. They have all been so supportive through life events, and we’ve all been supportive of each other, like when Mr. King had his twins,” Groat shared. “When I think of North Penn, the first thing that comes to mind is my colleagues. The friendship and the support they have given me really just shows the positive nature of everyone here.”

One of Groat’s favorite parts of being a teacher is the welcoming environment of North Penn High School.

“That’s the great thing about being a teacher, you get really close with your colleagues, maybe more so than any other profession,” Groat said. “There’s no competition, or at least that’s the culture with the Chemistry department. We share all of our materials and our ideas, so the Chemistry department is just a great culture to be in.” 

Not only does the science department hold a close place in her heart, but the English department as well, as Groat’s daughter is also a teacher here at North Penn.

“Having nine years to work with my son-in-law and seven to work with my daughter, oh it’s wonderful. We can always understand what the other is going through, the challenges and the joys of the day-to-day of being a teacher. North Penn is incredibly fortunate to have them,” Groat explained.

Something that Groat admires most about teaching Chemistry, is how logical and well-organized the subject is.

“Chemistry is so logical, it appeals to my ordered sensibility and being able to share that logic and order with students, that’s where the spark was for me,” Groat shared.

The one thing that Groat loves more than teaching Chemistry, is who she’s teaching it to.

“It’s such a joy to work with teenagers, kids are so funny,” Groat explained. “If I had to do it again I would choose teenagers every time, it’s just the sweet spot to be.”

Not only does Groat dedicate much of her time teaching information to students, but also spends it helping lab-aides prepare for upcoming labs within the science department.

“I’ve done lab-aids for the last 15 years. We have three lab-aids in K-Pod and three in C-Pod and they stay after school everyday for an hour to an hour and a half every day and they stay and get the experiments ready for all the teachers,” Groat said. “I enjoy it because that’s my time where it’s my job to help my colleagues. I try to reframe it and tell myself “This is the time for me to help the people that I love the most.”

Over her 34 years here, Groat has seen and learned a tremendous amount, something she has enjoyed learning about immensely, is the students that fill North Penn High School.

“I’ve learned about so many different kinds of peoples and their cultures. North Penn is so diverse and I think it’s amazing to get to learn about a student’s religious practice or another student’s job or the sport they are in. I love being exposed to so many different kinds of people,” Groat shared.