After 20 years in the district, a well-loved math teacher, Bill LeClear, is ready to retire. LeClear will say goodbye to Hoover at the end of the school year.

“I knew in my heart of hearts that it was the right time. I thought about it each of the last four years, the classes 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and I knew those weren’t the right times but this year, you just know when it’s the right time,” he revealed.

“I’ve been here at Hoover for 20 years, which was a good place to stop and I think that more than anything else. It’s been an absolutely wonderful time here but I just knew in my heart that this was the right time. The 20 years was a good milestone to retire.”

LeClear described what he would do during retirement.

“I’m not sure yet [about my plans but] I’m not going to set the alarm, I’m going to sleep in, other days I’m going to do nothing, I’m going to do lots of reading, and I’m going to spend time with family, particularly my older daughter and my grandson who live here in Southern California. My younger daughter and her husband live in [Las] Vegas so they’re not far. I will spend time with my friends [as well],” LeClear explained.

LeClear added how being a teacher was a second career.

“I came to Hoover 20 years ago right now and I did my student teaching [during] spring semester [in] 2006 and Mrs. Sood was my master teacher. I never left and I’m very glad I hadn’t,” he said.

LeClear expressed what has kept him motivated over the years of teaching at Hoover.

“I have loved this job, that has kept me motivated and I have so thoroughly enjoyed [and] love the students, this high school, and the community,” he listed.

“There [are] days when I’m driving to work and I just laugh thinking ‘I’m getting paid to do this and it’s something that I so thoroughly enjoy.’ Feedback from my students has kept me motivated [too]. My love of this job, I’ve been very blessed to have this as a second career.”

When LeClear was asked what his favorite memory at Hoover was, he replied by saying how that’s an impossible question to answer to put into words.

“I have so many [memories that] I lose count,” he said. “I’ve had so many wonderful students, announcing at the football games all these years, so many other things here at Hoover [like] certainly leading the student body in the ‘Alma Mater’ at the end of the assemblies is a cherished memory. [As well as the] friends I have made here, the families of my students that I have met and those parents who have become personal friends. Those are absolutely wonderful memories,” he reflected on.

Before concluding his last time at Hoover, LeClear left his final message for Hoover students to remember him by.

“Make good use of the time when you are at this wonderful high school. Come prepared to learn and to work. Come with a good attitude. Don’t come to focused on ‘when can I use my phone’ and ‘when can I go to the bathroom’,” he exclaimed.

“High school is such a great experience, I mean I loved my high school years. Enjoy your years at Hoover and with doing so, study hard, play hard, get involved in as many activities as you can and this will create ever lasting memories for you.”