NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — The New Smyrna Beach community is celebrating one of their most cherished substitute teachers: 88-year-old Lawrence Willwerth, who is retiring after 20 years.

​On any given day, Willwerth could be found welcoming students into a classroom. 

Willwerth is a substitute teacher in everything from math to science to social studies. 

"You might as well call me a jack of all trades kind of sub,” Willwerth said. 

He’s spent the past 20 years subbing at New Smyrna Beach Middle and New Smyrna Beach High. Jumping from classroom to classroom means most students, like Tiffany Chamberlin, have had him before and know him well. 

“He is really sweet and kind,” said Chamberlin, a sixth-grade student. 

Chamberlin is among the last students taught by Willwerth, as he is retiring — a moment the community could not let go without celebrating. Teachers, administrators, and students celebrated him on his last day, complete with cards and gifts of gratitude.

“I am amazed. I never expected this. I expected maybe a little short ceremony, a thank you, but to see so many people, such notoriety here, I did not expect it,” Willwerth said. 

Those who worked alongside him believe it's exactly what he deserved.

“He always created an atmosphere even though he was a substitute he was still an educator who encouraged kids to learn," Volusia County School Board Chair Linda Cuthbert said. “He will definitely definitely be missed."

Willwerth came to substitute teaching as a second career. In the past two decades, he's taught thousands. 

“You see my grandkids are all up north, and these kids have been my grandchildren, and believe me, there is a lot of them," Willwerth said. "I meet them everywhere in life, up to 35 years old. In fact, a student brought up to me a camera, a Zoom with her mother’s picture on it, and as soon as her mother saw me, she said hello Mr. Willwerth, you were my sub in 2006. Can you believe that? So I even have the mothers now."

While he has touched the lives of many, in turn, he said they have touched his. 

“It has given me a purpose, you know, and I felt like I was helping and I was doing something. That was important to me," Willwerth said. 

Even though he won’t be waiting on the school bell to ring any more, he’s a substitute that can’t be replaced.

“You don’t just walk away from something you’ve been doing for 20 years and not feel a loss,” he said.

Willwerth is excited to start a new chapter with his wife, but won't be slowing down too much. 

“I live on the water so I’ll probably go fishing and that sort of thing, and I will probably get more involved in the community now that I have time, because I certainly won’t sit around. That I won’t do,” Willwerth said.