When Leah Aguayo arrived at Los Gatos High School on the penultimate day of her teaching career, she had what she called a “teary moment.”

Someone—one or perhaps many of her students—had adorned the area near her classroom with signs reading “Thank you for shaping and molding us” and “40 years and finally graduating.” They had set up a collection of pinwheels, which were blowing in the wind. When she asked her students who was responsible for the gesture, no one fessed up. But given Aguayo’s 40 years of teaching, there is no shortage of people who might want to thank her.

This month, Aguayo is retiring from Los Gatos High, where she’s spent the past five years teaching ceramics. Before that, she was the ceramics instructor at Saratoga High School, a post she held since 1981. Former students are holding a “drive by” retirement celebration on June 19 in the parking lot of Saratoga High School to honor Aguayo’s long and storied teaching career.

Over the years, Aguayo became a stalwart teacher, a favorite among students. She also became known for getting involved outside of the classroom.

Twice, she took students on trips to New Mexico to study Native American pottery and technique.

Back at Saratoga High School, she started a women’s awareness group, where she hosted workshops for female students to discuss topics they cared about.

For 22 years, she hosted the Souper Bowl, a tradition started at Saratoga High School and carried over to Los Gatos. It was a chance for her ceramics students and the schools’ culinary students to show off their skills.

When the Paradise Fires hit, she convinced Los Gatos High School and Saratoga High School to band together to host taco dinners to raise money for the victims. Afterward, other teachers joined the effort, hosting their own donation drives. Altogether, they sent $22,000 to the town.

Aguayo said the past few years have been incredibly challenging, but there’s solace in the fact that she and her students were able to weather the various storms together. The COVID-19 pandemic, extreme wildfires, the transition to virtual learning—all of it added up to an unconventional end to Aguayo’s career. But that’s not what she takes away.

“I’m so proud of my kids,” Aguayo said. “I’m so proud of our staff, our administration, our maintenance crew. Oh, my goodness, we did it. We did it, and we did it safely.”

Aguayo recently did the math. Over 40 years, she’s taught about 6,000 students. Those from her first graduating class are now 58 years old.

Tanya and Steve Melen, now married, met for the first time in Aguayo’s pottery class at Saratoga High School. They were students there in the 1980s, and Steve said he liked her class so much he took it twice.

“Clearly, I had some extraordinary skills in pottery to get Tanya’s attention,” he said.

The two remember Aguayo’s unique way of making students feel comfortable while dealing with the hardships that come with being a teenager.

“She was a safe person to go to if you were having school problems or having a tough time in class with a teacher,” Tanya said, or if you were having some health problems. She was always there to listen and to help and never made any judgment.”

Another former student, Kevin Story, also took Aguayo’s ceramics class in the 1980s. He and some friends still visit her classroom every couple of years to throw pots. He said he was extremely influenced by Aguayo when he was a student.

“She had a humongous impact on me because I didn’t really enjoy school. I wasn’t very good at it,” Story said. “And then when I started in her classroom, she encouraged creativity. She allowed me and my friends to really do things our way.”

By Story’s senior year, he was entering his ceramics work into competitions. Because of Aguayo, pottery became a lifelong passion for him.

Story and the Melens are working together to plan Aguayo’s retirement celebration on Saturday, June 19, in the Saratoga High School lot. There will be pop-up tents where Aguayo will be signing jars of her famous hot sauce, and Steve will be signing copies of his book and donating a portion of his sales proceeds to Aguayo’s retirement fund. Former students and community members can drive by to show their support for Aguayo as she prepares for retirement.

Aguayo’s retirement plans are varied. She plans to devote some time to her already successful salsa business. Mrs. A’s Salsa Buena was a business idea borne out of her students’ love for homemade snacks she’d bring to class to incentivize good behavior.

Aguayo said her students encouraged her to sell the salsa, even coming up with a name and logo themselves.

She added that she might try to lend her services to schools with less robust art programs, to reach those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to ceramics lessons. Or maybe she’ll be an art docent. She’ll probably spend some time volunteering at local family shelters, paying special attention to the oldest kids because she knows they’re the most often ignored.

“I just have so much energy that I know something’s meant for me out there,” Aguayo said.

No matter where retirement takes her, she’s taking her students’ final gesture of thanks with her when she goes.

“I’m going to take the pinwheels and put them in my garden,” Aguayo said. “So, when the wind comes down, they’ll spin and it’ll remind me of all of my great memories.”