Mr. Gus Maurer had one mission: to be the kind of teacher he never had. He didn’t want to lecture from a textbook. He wanted to bring history to life and make students feel something in every lesson. And he delivered on that mission a lot in the last 27 years. 

“The reason I became a teacher, the biggest reason, well there’s 2 reasons; straight up, first reason, having summers off seemed awesome. I don’t love going to work. I love this job but if I don’t have to work, I don’t want to work, that’s why I’m retiring at 57. But the other thing was I had so many boring teachers in high school. I really didn’t like high school and I felt like the teachers could have done a much better job,” Maurer stated.

After nearly three decades of captivating students with stories from the past, Mr. Gus Maurer is closing the book on his teaching career. With 27 years of dedicated service, Maurer, a beloved history teacher, is retiring—leaving behind a legacy of laughter, inspiration, and unconventional wisdom that few can match.

Maurer’s journey into education wasn’t exactly traditional. In fact, he’s always been refreshingly honest about his early years as a student.

 “I was 110th in GPA out of 300 so I didn’t work very hard in school and I didn’t really care that much even about college. I just went off to college because everyone else was,” Maurer stated. His disinterest in school didn’t come from a lack of intelligence—it came from a lack of connection. He simply didn’t see the point. Ironically, that very mindset became his greatest strength as a teacher.

Originally, Maurer pursued a degree in psychology. After doing maintenance work on golf courses for a few years, It wasn’t until later that he considered teaching—not out of obligation, but out of a desire to do things differently. He earned his teaching certificate from Villanova and started teaching at Penndale in 1997. “I waited a little bit to finish my masters. I got a masters in history then I was done and ready to make the move,” Maurer explained.

“I think one thing that sets me apart not from every teacher but from a lot of teachers is that I’m not too attached to the rules and the exams. We’re here to learn and learning can be fun and there’s a lot of ways to learn, and if you learn half history and half life, that’s good too. We don’t have to exclude all the fun, interesting life stuff from class. I’m willing to do basically anything and study anything as long as we’re learning and enjoying it. That’s always been the focus in my class,” Maurer said.

Known for his sharp wit, creative analogies, and the occasional over-the-top reenactment, Maurer’s classroom wasn’t just a place to learn—it was a place to experience. From playing games on Fridays to turning the American Revolution into a classwide debate, he brought energy and excitement to subjects that many students once dreaded. 

Outside the classroom,Maurer is just as passionate—especially when it comes to golf. An avid player for years. Friends and family expect to see a lot more of him on the fairway and a lot less of him grading papers late into the night. You might even see him riding his bike throughout his neighborhood more often.

When it comes to Maurer, there are two things he always wants associated with him: that everyone always tried to have a good time while they were learning and that he was always there to help when people needed him.