Teachers are obviously the backbone of Dimond High School’s student education. They are people to be cherished and some of the best mentors you will have in your life. 

Sadly, many teachers are retiring and leaving Dimond and will not be back for the 2021-2022 school year. Among these wise advisers is Suzanne Metcalfe, Dimond’s beloved librarian. 

Metcalfe was the librarian for Mears Middle School before moving to Dimond in 2006.

During her interview for the position of the Dimond librarian, she enjoyed talking about her vision of the library and how much she loved her profession, which soon landed her the job. 

During her 15 years at Dimond, she built strong bonds with her fellow colleagues and made long-lasting friendships. 

English teacher Anne Morris describes the impact Metcalfe made on Dimond and the helpful personality of her fellow coworker.

“Mrs. Metcalfe transformed the library and made it the heart of Dimond. It is the center of the building, but is welcoming to everyone.

“She knows everything, literally everything, or she knows how to find an answer.” 

If Morris were to describe Metcalfe in one sentence, it would be “Queen of the Word Nerds.”

Metcalfe is described as friendly and intelligent with a mind that holds vast amounts of knowledge for the ability to help others. Her job as a librarian is one of the most important roles in a well-working school that leads to students’ success.

With many good words to add to Metcalfe’s character, Antara Brewer shares her thoughts on  Metcalfe’s contribution to Dimond and the students.

 “Ms. Metcalfe has superpowers when it comes to connecting kids with books they like. 

She reads more than seems humanly possible, so she’s basically a walking database of young adult lit.” 

Brewer also shares and describes the great personality and interests of her friend that she admires. 

“In one word? Enthusiastic—about her job, about books, about poetry, about research, about living in Alaska, about salads and Southern food, about cats (she has two beautiful cats named after characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird”), about friendship. I won’t say I’ll miss her friendship, since I’m sure that will continue even when she leaves Dimond—so, I’ll miss her teaching my students about research. And I’ll miss her amazing brownies.”

Finally, Metcalfe shares what she will miss most when she retires from Dimond. 

“I will miss Dimond students most of all. Whether it’s helping students find a perfect book, create well-formatted Works Cited pages, utilize good resources for a project or discover the library is a safe place to hang out, my days are better when I get to interact with young adults. 

“Dimond students have contributed to making the library their place by recommending books, asking questions about schoolwork and helping me arrange the library so they find it inviting.” 

 Metcalfe values the company and education of Dimond students as a top priority. She also adds to her list of love-to-does.

“I love collaborating with teachers to plan projects. A few that jump to mind are: Physics with Ms. Childress, Forensics with Ms. Romo, Writing a grant to bring an author to Dimond with Ms. Melican-Nevala, Alaska Studies with Mr. Peters and Ms. Lindsey, Letters about Literature, poetry, and memoirs with Ms. Norsworthy, notable authors with Mr. Reese, Mythology with Ms. Higgins, Many, many projects with Ms. Morris and Ms. Brewer, World History Day with Ms. Anderson.” 

 She shares her thoughts on her retirement and what she will do in her free time. 

“I’m excited about retirement life. My summer will probably look the same as any other school break, but next August, it will hit me that for the first time in many, many, many years, I’m not going back to school! I have some trips planned to see family and friends: otherwise, I’m still figuring out how retirement will look for me.

“I already miss Dimond, but I feel so lucky to have spent the last 15 years of my career as a Lynx.”