History teacher Lee McManus’s last day at Venice High School was April 7. Ms. Luisa Eames took his place the Monday after spring break.

Mr. McManus told his students he was leaving school due to the fact that he was dealing with many  personal problems and needed time to recover from an upcoming surgery. Despite this, he stated he would still have retired in June.

Senior Tegan Ortega said she felt the new teacher was encouraging.

“She’s a good teacher,” said Ortega. “You can tell she wants to make a good impression and teach us as much as she can before the year ends, but I wish Mr. McManus was still here.”

“I feel very sad because [McManus] was a great teacher and not enough people gave him credit,” said senior Rosio Salas.

McManus was only at Venice High School from the end of the spring semester of 2016 to May 7, 2017. He taught U.S. history, Government and Economics.

“It’s cool I got to be with [McManus] for two years when he came and when he left,” said senior John Uribe, “The new teacher is pretty good though, she’s really trying to bring a new energy and attitude to this class. Everyone seems intrigued.”

During his short time here, some students did not give him respect and he had a hard time keeping students focused.

“It’s kinda sad, he was a cool teacher,” said junior Jonathan Dubon.

“Kids were always mean and rude to [McManus], they always used to talk back to him and sleep in his class,” said junior Jessica Garcia.

Despite all the trouble he faced in the classroom, he still pushed through and was determined to get his information across to those who listened and respected him.

“Students were disrespectful to Mr. McManus. I think they didn’t listen because he taught more advanced-like, like if it was a college level class. He really encouraged me to work the [election] polls,” said junior Kent Fukuhara.