Mr. Dobbins to Retire

With the school year coming to an end, our last senior class is preparing to be the last class to graduate at Hillwood. Not only are our students leaving, but also some of our Hillwood teachers. Mr. Washington Dobbins has been a teacher for thirty-nine years since 1984. He taught Hillwood for six years and has decided to retire.

Dobbins has taught at other schools since his career began. He taught at colleges in the start of his career. Teaching students from Tennessee State and Fisk University, and later at high schools Hunters Lane and Hillwood. Although becoming a teacher wasn’t his first pick, he became one after he finished college.

Before Dobbins became a teacher, he had a different career: a model. He was signed to one of the top modeling agencies, but then changed his path.

“An influential teacher where I had graduated from would just keep calling. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, saying ‘ just come back for three years and you can model again,'” Dobbins said. That same teacher would be present beside President Obama after speaking of the church shooting in Charleston in 2015.

If there was something that he could have done differently, it would be in becoming a pilot.

“I always say this with a grain of salt,” Dobbins said, “because if you change anything about yourself, you change your life.”

Dobbins has many plans for his retirement. He plans on traveling everywhere, but mostly the Bahamas, his wife’s home. It’s the first destination he plans on visiting with his wife. Not only this, but he sees himself going back into teaching college students in the future.