Click here to see Mr. Crush’s reason for resigning, anecdotes about his time at Manual, and his parting message to all his students.

Anthony Crush recently resigned from his position as Manual’s Algebra II teacher to the disappointment of many of his students. He released his official statement on January 2, stating the reason of his resignation.

“As many of you know I have been enrolled in three different universities this fall taking 18 graduate credit hours to complete credit hours in an effort to complete coursework for my M.A.T. Unfortunately, the results from one of my exams has not been posted preventing the university from renewing my teaching license. Mr. Mayes has worked very hard to try to keep me in the building but we have not had success. Effective tomorrow, I will have to resign. I plan to finish my M.A.T and re-apply to JCPS later this month,” Crush said in an e-mail to the parents of the students in his classes.

As soon as the students received news of his resignation, they took to Twitter expressing their discontent. Even Mr. Crush himself, whose Twitter account is followed by many Manual students, tweeted about the event.

“It is with a heavy heart I have to say goodbye,” he stated via Twitter. “I plan to reapply later this month. I will be sending an email to everyone very soon.”

Many students were confused about the reasons for his parting.

“Is a license renewal dispute really worth immediately getting rid of one of our most beloved and most effective new teachers?” Patrick Smalley (10, J&C) said. “Why not just end his contract at the end of the school year rather than terminating it immediately? Is the school even able to support several hundred more Algebra II students after losing a teacher? You’d think we’d be understaffed. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’ve only met him once, and my impression of him is awesome. Mr. Crush really shouldn’t go,” Emily Hu (10, HSU) said.

Most students, however, were too upset to wonder if the reason behind his leaving seemed confusing. Madeline Clements (10, VA) took to Facebook to call for a protest.

“Mr. Crush is literally the best math teacher I have ever had,” Clements said. “We should protest. Mr. Crush made math fun but also made sure we understood everything we were learning. This is completely stupid.”

Despite his reason for leaving, it is clear that Mr. Crush’s absence could be felt not only by his students, but by the entire school.

“I don’t even have him as a teacher, but this is still awful,” Sarah Olive (10, HSU) said. “He’s such a nice person and he loves Manual. He’s so full of team spirit and I’ve heard he’s a fantastic teacher.”

See Mr. Crush in another RedEye video here.

See Mr. Crush’s teacher profile here.