Teacher breaks Guinness World Record for working at same school for 61 years

Glenda Akin, a retired teacher from Tennessee, has lived and worked through quite a story. And now she herself has made history.

Akin, 84, has been certified by Guinness World Records as the longest-serving teacher at the same school.

“I loved my job. I didn’t mind getting up and going to school every day,” Akin said. As it happens guest host Paul Hunter.

“My whole family left, and so the school community, you know, more or less became my family. »

“A lifelong commitment to education”

Before retiring last year, Akin worked at Westmoreland High School, first as a teacher, then as a librarian, for 61 years and 43 days.

She has several years of experience with Guinness’ longest-serving male teacher, Paul Durietz, who has accumulated 54 years and 61 days at Woodland School in Gurnee, Illinois as of October 2024.

Akin says she even worked long enough to see one of her students grow up, become a teacher at the school herself, and then retire a decade before she did.

“Ms. Akin’s lifelong commitment to education shaped generations of students and left an unforgettable legacy for our school and community,” it reads. a post on the Westmoreland High School Facebook page celebrating Akin’s achievement.

Akin says she’s surprised by all the attention she’s getting. When Westmoreland broke the news, she only expected the school community to see it.

“But it’s been everywhere,” she says. “[I’m] even tell someone in Canada. It’s simply incredible.

Bans on cell phones and reading

Throughout her long career, Akin – or Ms. Akin, as she is known at school – has mentored dozens of generations of students through periods of intense social and technological change.

She was born on December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaiileading the United States into World War II, and began teaching in 1963, just months before the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

“That was the first big historical thing that came up in my teaching,” she said. “And then, of course, many other things after that.”

She was there to witness the introduction of computers into classrooms and libraries, and of course, the sudden explosion in the number of students with smartphones… a problem that schools are still grappling with.

“I think they would do well to put them away when they’re at school,” Akin said.

She also served as a librarian at a time when school literature was becoming an extremely politicized issue.

According to the American Library AssociationOrganized efforts to ban books from U.S. public and school libraries began to significantly intensify in 2021. Books with racial or 2SLGBTQ+ content are the most common targets of censorship efforts, according to the report.

Similar battles took place in Canadian provinces, towns and schools.

“As a librarian, I don’t think books should be banned,” Akin said.

“I don’t want pornographic material in a library and supporting things that are wrong. However, I don’t want anyone else telling me what I can and can’t read. And I don’t think some parents should be telling other parents and their children what students can read.”

Just because Akin has finally retired doesn’t mean she’s resting on her laurels.

“I’m not ready to sit down and give up yet,” she said. “I want to keep moving as long as I can.”

She is an active member of her local senior citizens organization, plays bingo, and volunteers for her local and church libraries.

“So there’s plenty to keep me busy,” she said.