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The following is a speech given by Nick Liston, FCS social studies teacher, at the retirement party for Dr. Raymond Meyer. Dr. Meyer served for 36 years in roles including pastor, teacher, Biblical integration specialist, and FCS secondary campus principal. Parts of the speech were edited for clarity and brevity.

Ray and I accepted teaching positions at Fremont Christian School just weeks apart in the summer of 1989. 1989 was a very different time from today—no cell phones, no internet. FCS had yet to discover air conditioning. Students did not have to wear uniforms, but teachers were required to wear ties. We complained when the price of gas crept over a dollar a gallon. A hamburger at McDonald’s ran about fifty cents, which may explain why we were starting to have trouble fitting into a pair of Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans, which were selling at just under $20. 

On November 9, the people of East and West Germany rose up and tore down the Berlin Wall, one of the most repressive symbols of the Cold War that had gripped the world for over 40 years. And while Ray constantly tells me “Correlation is not causation,” I find it very hard to believe that the addition of two such stellar intellects to the faculty of Fremont Christian had nothing to do with the downfall of Communism just ten weeks hence.

Now, 37 years later, I am reminded of the words of another icon from the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, who once said of the armed forces, “Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.” I would argue the same could be said of teachers. And I would say that is especially true of the man we honor here today.

Throughout our teaching careers, Ray and I have shared a lot. On numerous occasions, our classrooms have had an adjoining wall. We often taught the same grade levels: one decade teaching junior highers, another decade juniors and seniors. We have shared complaints. “How many more days until spring break?” “The copier is jammed…again.” And year after year, we have parroted the musical Bye-Bye Birdie in asking “What’s the matter with these kids today?"

We’ve also shared the unique experience of teaching one another’s children. You can learn a lot about a person when you teach their kids. Having taught Jake in both eighth and twelfth grade as well as coaching him in soccer, I got to inspect Ray’s parenting skills up close. They are impressive. Jake’s curiosity and work ethic in the classroom, his warm personality, his leadership as a captain of the soccer team—which came within one goal of a section title—were clear reflections of the home that Ray and Tricia had created.

On the flip side, Ray also taught all four of my children. I would like to say…I’m sorry. We tried. There were just too many of them.

Two memories come to mind right away. The first was the Sunday that Ray asked my son Isaac to play piano at the church where he was a pastor. My entire family attended First Baptist that week, sitting in the second row. When Ray wrapped up the sermon, I leaned over to my daughter and whispered, “What a great sermon.” “Yeah,” she said. “We had that lesson in class last week.”

Ray’s double-dipping aside, that moment reminded me how fortunate we were to have our kids in Ray’s Bible class, to have their faith shaped, stretched, and deepened five days a week by someone who truly knows Scripture and knows how to teach it.

The second memory involves my eldest son, Isaiah. Following his freshman year of college, Isaiah took a missions trip to the interior of Tanzania. His team of 12 college students traveled from village to village, meeting with the few Christians who lived there and often holding a short worship service followed by a message for these makeshift congregations.

The third day in, the group leader came over to Isaiah about halfway through the worship service and whispered, “Greg was supposed to do the sermon tonight, but he’s sick. Can you cover? You’re on in twenty minutes.” Isaiah just smiled. “Dad,” he would later tell me, “I had been throwing together devotionals in Dr. Meyer’s class in way less than twenty minutes. I grabbed a scrap of paper, jotted down my three points, and then gave those people some Jesus.”

So maybe Ray and I didn’t cause the Berlin Wall to be torn down back in 1989. But I do know the impact Ray has had on my children—and the thousands of other students who have sat in the pews of his classroom.

And while some people may wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference, Ray won’t have that problem. Because Ray is a teacher. Ray is a great, great teacher.
 

After more than three decades of faithful service, Dr. Tricia Meyer is stepping into a new chapter. While this transition is tied to Dr. Raymond Meyer’s retirement, it also marks the close of an extraordinary season of Dr. Tricia Meyer’s leadership, influence, and presence on campus.

For many, Dr. Meyer has been a teacher, administrator, and leader. For me, she has been all of those, and so much more.

I first knew her as Ms. Miller when I was a high school student, at a time when I was one of the very few international students at Fremont Christian School. In that season, her presence stood out, not only for her excellence in the classroom, but for the care and intentionality she showed in making students feel seen and supported.

Years later, after moving back to the United States and deciding to return to college, I reconnected with her, now Dr. Meyer, as she helped me obtain my transcripts and take the next step forward. What could have been a simple administrative interaction became, once again, a moment of encouragement and guidance.

Life came full circle when I later joined Fremont Christian as a staff member around the time I welcomed my first child. In that season, she was no longer just my teacher but also my employer and, over time, she became a trusted mentor and dear friend. Somewhere along the way, Dr. Meyer simply became Tricia.

She has walked alongside me through some of the most pivotal moments of my life, offering steady support, wisdom, and encouragement.

Dr. Meyer’s influence extends far beyond academics or administration. She has a unique ability to invest deeply in people, to lead with both strength and compassion, and to build a community rooted in faith and purpose. It was because of her impact and the culture she helped cultivate that I chose Fremont Christian School for my own children, a decision that reflects the trust and respect so many families share.

As she and Dr. Raymond Meyer prepare to leave Fremont, this transition is bittersweet. While we celebrate this new chapter for their family, her absence will be deeply felt across the school and community. Still, her legacy will continue to live on in the countless lives she has touched.

Ms. Miller. Dr. Meyer. Tricia. Each name reflects a different season, but the same unwavering heart for people, for education, and for faith.

Thank you for being a teacher, a leader, a mentor, and a friend. Your impact reaches far beyond the years you have served. It lives on in the people and community you helped shape, including my own life, in ways I will always carry with me.

From Dr. Tricia Meyer

It has been the privilege of a lifetime to love this school, its students, and its staff. When my grandmother knew Jesus was calling her to come to this church in the early 1960s, she could not have known a school would be started and that her daughter and her granddaughter would spend their entire careers as leaders in that place. But she was responsive to God’s call in that decision, and many decisions by my parents, my husband, myself, and others were used by God to give me a life in and around Fremont Christian School, where I have known His overwhelming love. I am so, so grateful and am very excited to see what happens next because He goes with us.