No one embodies Arlington High like history teacher Peggy Martin. To see someone with as much satisfaction and passion in her work is exceedingly rare, for Martin each day seems to be a new opportunity to fulfill a calling. Not only is she absolutely gratified in her line of work, she has also found the perfect place to carry it out: Martin bleeds green and white. At the end of the year however, Martin is ending her 25 year career, but she will take with her happy reflections on her AHS experience.

“Everything’s been wonderful,” Martin said. “I know that sounds silly but really it has been. I went to high school here, everybody’s my friend, my family.”

This feeling of belonging is certainly one reciprocated by teachers and students, all of whom seem to agree that Martin is the epitome of teaching success.

“I knew she always wanted the best for us, she wasn’t just there for a job,” Kendall Grasty, senior, said. “She wanted to make a positive impact on our lives which made me want to put more effort into the class as well.”

For Martin, teaching AP European and United States history is certainly more than a job; Martin enjoyed her every moment at Arlington High which is evident in her reflections of the school.

“I think my troll years were some of the funniest I’ve ever had – I had over 100 trolls in my classroom at one stage. I collected them, and then people would give them to me,” she said.

According to Martin, the trolls, with a little help from students, got a mind of their own.

“Those trolls went every place, I would find them in the middle of the football field all standing straight. Sometimes I would find them out in the hallway all against the wall standing there: they’ve been held for ransom, I had videos of the trolls running away, we had lots of fun,” Martin said.

Not only did this combination of lightheartedness and enlightenment appeal to generations of students, it also influenced teachers.

“I learned that, yeah you have to have structure in the classroom but at the same time you never take yourself too seriously,” Jason Fitzgerald, assistant principal, said. “She influenced me by her personality and also her instructional methods. I saw her relationships with kids and how important of a piece that is in the classroom.”

Martin’s influence in general, both on teachers and students, is extremely far reaching. Indeed, many former students were so impacted that they stay in touch for years.

“Hopefully I’ve had a good influence. But I’ve had some unbelievable students. I taught Mr.Green and I taught Mrs.Perez. I have one, Will Cannon who lives in L.A., Meg Brown, Alice Bennet’s going to have her first child, she’s in the Navy in London, I’m going to go to her baby shower, I go to weddings and you seem them and you watch them grow,” Martin said.

Now, even among the last class of seniors that she’ll ever teach, Martin continues to produce this impact.

“When you think of history at Arlington High you’ll always think of Mrs. Martin,” Grasty said. “She was my favorite teacher because she always was so sweet and put a smile on your face, which is really important. She was also so kind that I wanted to work harder because I respected her as a person.”

Fitzgerald continued on this vein.

“Peggy Martin is Arlington High. She’s played such a key role in so many people’s lives and helped so many young kids and young teachers. I think the world of her and her accomplishments.  I mean if we could build a statue of her somewhere…,” he said.

Even without a physical monument, Martin will always be remembered as an integral and influential part of Arlington High School. Countless numbers of people have benefited from the 25 years she spent with the students and faculty of AHS.