There will be a record number of teachers retiring in the Yukon this year.

'Baby boomers are on the way out,' Ian Oostindie, president of the Yukon Teachers Association, said in a recent interview. More than 25 teachers are calling it a career this year.

He is expecting just as many to retire next year as well.

Oostindie said this year's number of retirees is the highest he's ever seen. Last year, 17 teachers retired.

In the last decade, retirement levels were low, at about six people per year.

'If it was 15, people would be like Whoa, that's a lot,'' said Oostindie.

The large number of retirees means there will be a number of job vacancies in the territory. As of May, there were 72 teacher openings in the territory, but Oostindie said some of those jobs are temporary.

'We have some maternity postings and things like that,' said Oostindie. 'But 41 of those jobs are permanent postings.'

He said the Department of Education will rely heavily on hires from out of territory.

'Last year, there were 55 hires and about half of those were from Outside.'

He said most of the hires are done in May and June, the time when new teachers are graduating from university.

Oostindie said there is no concern about any teacher shortages in the territory. However, he did say there was an increase in the number of female teachers in the profession.

'In recent years, education students are about 80-per-cent female,' said Oostindie.

It's usually best to have a mix of male and female teachers in both elementary and secondary schools to provide a balanced set of role models, he added.

'But male teachers usually go into the high schools,' he said.

Many of the teachers new to the Yukon end up in rural areas.

The territory used to have a high turnover rate when it came to teachers, especially in the communities. But Oostindie said that has changed because of improvements to roadways and other services making rural areas less remote.

Although retention numbers have gotten better, Oostindie said it's still an issue for the teachers' association, adding the real costs of northern living need to be depicted in teacher salaries, 'as they don't reflect it fully now.'

Class sizes are also an issue in the Yukon.

'In the rural communities, a teacher might have to take on two or three grades at a time,' said Oostindie. The association is working to keep class sizes consistent, unlike B.C., which took away limits on class size, he added.

Oostindie also said the Yukon needs to offer professional development opportunities similar to those available in the south, 'so that teachers feel they are still part of a profession.'

One of the veteran educators retiring this year is Heather Thompson, principal of Takhini Elementary School.

She has been with the Range Road school for 19 years, although she began her first principalship at Grey Mountain Primary when that school first opened in Riverdale.

'I'm sure it was very hard on the teachers because I didn't have any experience as a principal,'Thompson said about her experience at Grey Mountain.

'But it was a very exciting time because we got to create a logo for the school and a song. So it was a really good place to start.'

Throughout the years, Thompson has also worked as a teacher at a number of schools across the territory, having been at Kluane Lake School, the Teslin School, Whitehorse Elementary and Selkirk Elementary.

She began her teaching career in Saskatchewan but moved to the Yukon after her husband got a radio operations job in the territory.

Thompson said she wanted to become a principal because it would give her greater influence over the school.

'I wanted to be able to make changes for the kids,' said Thompson.

During her principalship at Takhini, she has implemented several different programs, including the earth school program.

Takhini was the first school in the Yukon to become an earth school and the 44th one in Canada to take part in the program, which puts a focus on teaching youth to respect the environment.

'It is important for students to know about the environment and to want to protect it because they are the future,' said Thompson.

Under the program, students have worked to create a naturalized yard in front of Takhini.

'We have worked to make the children more respectful and responsible,' said Thompson.

She has also worked hard to see that the demands of special needs students were met.

Thompson said she has enjoyed the variety of students she has worked with over the years, adding the teachers at Takhini have also been wonderful.

'The staff here are kind, caring, creative, very clever people. Why would I have ever wanted to leave?' asked Thompson. She said she'll miss the energy of the staff.

Thompson plans to spend her retirement travelling along the Yukon River. She also wants to take part in the annual Haines, Alaska eagle festival and spend time picking cranberries.

'Things I can't usually do during the fall because of school.' said Thompson. 'I look forward to being able to sit down for a whole lunch hour.'

As a principal, Thompson spends her noon hour meeting with teachers and students.

On Wednesday, students and teachers waved to Thompson as she passed over the school in a helicopter. They made a large 'Mrs. Thompson Rocks' banner and arranged the fly-by so she could see it.

Another notable teacher retiring this year is Roxienne Prestone from Destruction Bay. She has taught at Kluane Lake School for 16 years.

'Since it is a one-room school, Roxienne was in charge of 90 per cent of what went on there. Those are big shoes to fill,' said Oostindie.