Retiring math teacher Rich Eckart reflects on love of numbers, championing students, and a lucky life lived in schools

After nearly 40 years of teaching, Richard Eckart, a well-known and beloved math teacher at ARHS, is retiring at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. “I was born in 1963, and I will be 63 [this summer],” he said. “I think these two numbers are funny.”

Eckart was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived there for 25 years. After getting married in 1988, he and his wife moved to Boston, then Amherst. The pair met in college; Eckart described himself as a “math nerd,” and said his wife was artsy and one of the “cool kids.”

Raised in a conservative Catholic family, Eckart attended an all-boys Catholic high school. Discipline was a strong focus in his high school, and Eckart did not find it a “great way to be educated.”

“A lot of the time, you were nervous about breaking rules because the consequences were severe enough that you didn’t want to break [them],” he said.”It was more challenging to try to learn material; your first thought was always ‘I don’t want to get in trouble.’”

Eckart said he didn’t have good math teachers. Still, his father, who was a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Cincinnati, helped him with his homework, as he was “very good at math,” said Eckart. 

His first job, teaching math, was the job he kept wanting to do for his whole life. “I’ve been in school my entire life, ever since I was five years old,” joked Eckart. He attended the University of Cincinnati and went straight into teaching after college. 

Eckart has taught at a variety of schools, including Purcell Marion, a rural trades school, Saint Sebastian’s Country Day School, Park School, Brattleboro Union High School, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School, Amherst High School,  Crocker Farm Elementary School, and then back to Amherst High School before landing for the last, and longest leg of his career at ARHS.

At Crocker, Eckart was teaching math to younger students as part of a new experimental program. “[Derek] Shea and [Mike] Morris came up with the idea of ‘boy, wouldn’t it be great if we could get one teacher [from the high school] to come in and teach math to fifth and sixth graders? And then help with some of the younger grades?” said Eckart. 

Shea and Eckart were good friends, and Shea was the Assistant Principal at Crocker at the time. Eckart said that Shea asked his building principal if he’d approve of the idea and offer the job to Eckart. “The principal thought I’d say no, but I said yes,” said Eckart. 

Eckart was surprised by how much he enjoyed it, and he learned “the significant and amazing impact that elementary school teachers make on their students, because they’re with them all day for 180 days.”

“I really saw that firsthand,” said Eckart. “It was amazing, an amazing year.” 

Of all the schools he’s worked at, Eckart has kept particularly strong connections with Saint Sebastian’s Country Day School, keeping in touch to this day with some of his former students and attending a retirement party of a past coworker a couple of years ago. 

At ARHS, Eckart has taught many of our math classes: Pre Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Intro to Precalculus, and Honors Precalculus. Over the course of teaching students, Eckart has learned two big key things: “being patient and equal respect between students and teachers.”

 “I think respect [has to be] reciprocal,” said Eckart.

Eckart tries his best to figure out teaching methods that help students of all kinds with math comprehension. “That’s sometimes different for all different kinds of students,” said Eckart. “Learning math is a little bit like the way dominoes fall. They could be falling, and then all of a sudden, one of the dominoes just stops. And so, probing questions like ‘Where was that domino?’ [is important.] In other words, the student and I will collaborate to grasp the understanding that will enable them to move forward. ”

“For different kids, it’s in a different spot. Once I can figure it out, I can get you back on track. The rest of it falls into place,” he said.

Eckart has honed this mindset over the years: “If I don’t go back and help the student, their dominoes don’t keep going. And I want you all to learn,” said Eckart. 

While many lessons came from students, the staff he worked with every day have also influenced him. He highlighted learning multimodal approaches, especially from the special education department, and working with students with a wide range of abilities. These experiences have helped him become a more “seasoned teacher,” said Eckart.

He also gave a nod to his colleagues, whom he said help students uncover their talents and motivate them to pursue them in a strong way. “We have such good faculty,” said Eckart. “The students trust the teachers, and the teachers can bring that out in the students. That’s what I think makes this school special.” 

Eckart said he loves seeing things that students produce or have on display outside of math class, whether that is artwork, music ensembles, singing, musicals, sports, or more. “This is always the best part of the job,” said Eckart. “They do such an amazing job, and I’m always so amazed at how talented they are, and how much they’ve put into it. It’s just the coolest thing.”

Outside of school, Eckart enjoys staying active and spending time outdoors, especially hiking, walking, and biking. He also has a dog named Brody and an 18-year-old cat named Olivia. “She’s our old-lady cat,” said Eckart. 

Eckart is excited to have more flexibility in his schedule during his retirement. He hopes to stay active, focusing on creating the perfect fitness schedule that specializes in strength, core, and endurance, and spend more time reading. Some of his favorite genres include fiction and thrillers, especially mystery novels by John Grisham. 

While retirement is exciting and Eckart has some things in mind, there aren’t any “Big, big plans,” said Eckart. “I think things will just evolve.” 

Eckart hopes to stay connected with former colleagues and students, whether that be through email, phone, or popping up at events when they can reconnect. While retirement is exciting, Eckart said he will definitely miss his daily interactions with students. 

There is a quote that remains in Eckart’s mind: “‘You’ll never regret working hard.’ If you put a lot of effort into something, you’re not going to regret it,” said Eckart. 

He also recalled, “I used to say ‘Do the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing.’ Sometimes doing the right thing is hard, cause it’s easy to go with the crowd, but maybe there’s something you should do that’s different. Because you know deep down it’s better for you as a person, maybe even better for the people around you too.” 

Other than offering these parting words of wisdom, Eckart said he feels immense gratitude as he prepares to step away from such a positive career.

“I feel lucky I chose a profession that I enjoyed,” said Eckart.