Over the past 20 years, history teacher Trace Petersen profoundly impacted young minds in Atlantic. This year, he has decided to leave his home in Atlantic, Iowa, and move to a new home in Virginia.
Sophomore Lily Willrich said, “When I heard the news about Petersen leaving, I thought it was a joke. Now that I know it is true, I am sad and will miss him a lot as a tennis coach and as a great teacher.”
Petersen has been a teacher for 35 years, teaching grades seventh through 12th. After he resigns from Atlantic, he hopes to continue teaching in Virginia because he “still enjoys watching kids go through the door every day.”. However, he would be content with finding another profession. While teaching is his first choice, he would also be interested in working for the postal service or driving a UPS truck.
Mr. Petersen is most excited about hiking near mountains while his wife relaxes on a beach, like the one close to his future home. The Petersen family decided to move to Virginia to live closer to one of their two sons. His other son lives in Colorado with his seven-year-old daughter. This way he “only has to travel one way to see his children rather than two.” Although Petersen still plans to visit here as his siblings still live in Kimbolton, just 15 minutes from Atlantic. He values family and intends to keep in touch with those closest to him.
Along with teaching, he has coached multiple sports including football, basketball, track, tennis, and baseball. A varsity tennis player, Willrich, said he is a supportive and helpful coach. As an athlete, Dylin Ball learned to “Be a problem solver because when you are by yourself you have to figure things out yourself.” Ball is a freshman in high school and has had Mr. Petersen as a middle school girls’ basketball coach. She is currently in his American history class.
Petersen was known for teaching life lessons, and one Gracie Dearmit said was memorable was: ”He has taught me to appreciate the good things in your life and enjoy what you have”. He wants to express to the next history teacher at AHS that to teach, you have to love kids.
Petersen was inspired to be a teacher because he looked up to his older siblings who became educators. Growing up in a family of seven, he was used to being around kids. Many teachers throughout his schooling inspired him as well. He chose history specifically because he grew up in a military family and it influenced his passion for historical events. He first decided to teach the middle school grades, especially because he likes that you can “dive into intense historical events” without teaching “the basics”.
Several students have described him as energetic, kind, sarcastic, supportive, and most of all, out of pocket. These are just the many aspects of Mr. Petersen as a teacher and coach, the impacts of which are felt on a wide scale across the Atlantic community. Wilrich said, “He left a lasting impact on me and countless other students here at AHS. Thank you Mr. Petersen.”
