After 25 years of teaching, 15 of those at the Mill, Cheryl Clower has decided to retire. Clower, teacher of Nutrition & Wellness, Food for Life, Food Science, Introduction to Culinary Arts, and leader of Family Career and Community Leaders of America, will leave some big shoes to fill.

Clower has made a huge impact on Starr’s Mill High School over the years as well as its students. Not only does she teach all the classes concerning food and nutrition, but she also leads FCCLA and sets up a grand Italian dinner for the community each year called Mama Mia. She’s an active member of the community in and outside of the school, such as at church, and spreads smiles everywhere she goes.

Clower said that her favorite part of teaching is the “relationships built with [her] students and seeing students grow as individuals and leaders for our future,” Clower said. She also said that she has “replaced” herself as a teacher by turning at least six former students into teachers themselves. She even has one former student who became a registered dietitian.

Starr’s Mill alumni Nikki Shelton is one student in particular that Clower will always remember. She became a member of FCCLA as a shy freshman. However, within three years, she became Starr’s Mill chapter officer, and by her senior year, she became a state Georgia FCCLA officer, delivering speeches in front of over 2,000 people.

Senior Alyssa Loesch said that Clower has changed her life completely. Alyssa even referred to her as everyone’s second mom. “She’s provided me with many leadership opportunities and has helped me grow as a person,” Loesch said. “She has helped me with getting out of my comfort zone and challenging me to try new things.”

FCCLA historian and senior Milani Patel has known Clower for three years. Along with Loesch, she sees Clower as a “motherly figure”. “She has impacted my life by making sure I reach my full potential and pushing me to strive for the best,” Patel said. “She is a kind hearted woman who always puts others before herself.”

Clower has been more than a teacher. She’s been a mentor, caretaker, and someone who will listen and understand her students throughout the years. She’s also a registered dietitian and a former ballroom dance instructor.

In her retirement, Clower plans on sleeping in until 7-7:30 a.m. everyday and spending time with her husband, children, and grandchild. She plans on volunteering more at her church and within the community along with reading more books, going to the beach, and maybe even substituting at the Mill.

“A teacher is a person who mentors another in his/her field of passion, teaching life skills as well as curriculum,” Clower said. “As far as I am concerned, there is no better school than Starr’s Mill. Starr’s Mill really does have an expectation for ‘excellence’.”