Mr. Engberg is Retiring from Hastings High

Guidance counselor Scott Engberg is officially retiring from Hastings High after many years of service.

“[I’m looking forward to] sleeping in and catching up on some projects i’ve been wanting to get done for some time,” Engberg said. “I’m restoring a couple of older cars. I want to build a new garage or cabin. Just clean and organize my big storage building; that’s like a two year project.”

There are a few ways Engberg wants to spend his time during his retirement, including working on projects that he hasn’t had the chance to finish.

“My wife has plans but I don’t know if I’m included or not but we will do some traveling I’msure. But I’mnot a big traveling person, I enjoy more of the other stuff I’ve mentioned like the cars, building things, and fixing things,” Engberg said.

The time off also allows him to go to more events related to his kids and grandkids. 

“We have several grandchildren that are involved in several activities and my wife has gone to those over the last two or three years she has been retired. So, I’m sure I’ll be joining her in a lot of those types of things,” Engberg said. “I rarely missed work to do those things because I don’t feel right about having my other counselors do my job.”

Engberg has many things to look forward to, but he is having to say goodbye to those he has known for years.

“The two things I’m going to miss most are obviously the students and then just the staff members that I work with. I’ve just had great people in administrative offices, fellow guidance counselors, as well as numerous teachers I’ve enjoyed working with and getting to know,” Engberg said.

Guidance counselor Jeff Bittfield has been working with Engberg throughout his entire experience at Hastings High. Bittfield received advice from Engberg when he was new.

“When I first started here, I had a lot of questions and he took the time to answer them,” Bittfield said. “He is just overall a good guy to work with.”

Engberg shares stories and advice with his coworkers that leave them wanting more. Bittfield is going to miss those discussions.

“He always has great stories,” Bittfield said. “I’m just going to miss not being able to just go and talk to him [about] his stories or go to him to answer my questions. I’m going to just miss him.”

Guidance Counselor Lisa Boucher also mentions Engberg’s stories; a specific story about Engberg’s cat going missing.

“[My favorite thing about Mr. Engberg is] his personality and sense of humor. [I’ll] Probably [miss] all of those things and hearing [about] the exploits of his cat [named] Mister. He talks about that all the time, funny stories, and he was really worried about him when he went missing. He’s been great to work with,” Boucher said.