Farmington teacher signs 60th teaching contract

FARMINGTON, N.M.—A teacher at Farmington High School reached a major milestone Monday. Gerald Bonds has taught around 7,000 students in the span of 59 years, and recently signed his 60th teaching contract. He also has no plans to retire just yet.

“Until the day I walk out of here I’ll keep trying the best I can to try to help the kids because I want them to be more successful than I have,” said Bonds.

Bonds said he never thought he’d make it through 60 years of teaching.

“I don’t deserve something like this. I never felt like I deserved any recognition," Bonds added.

However, many would disagree. On Monday, district officials, current and former Farmington High School staff, and family joined Mr. Bonds in celebrating the milestone.

"What people don’t know, or they might know, or they forget is this man has touched so many lives, that he has a gift of impacting those at-risk kids, and the number of those at-risk kids that would have never made it through Farmington High, but stayed because of Mr. Bonds is huge," said a former staff member.

It is believed that Mr. Bonds is the longest serving teacher in the state. You can say he’s seen it all—even teaching through a pandemic.

While he said he doesn’t know what’s next, it’s clear that he has left an impact on his school.