James Filer started teaching at Panther Valley in 1974 - only eight years after the school district was created.

One of the longest-tenured teachers in the school's history, Filer is hanging it up. The Panther Valley School Board recently recognized him for more than four decades of service to the district.Contacted at home in Coaldale, Filer said it was a good time to retire because he had accomplished his goal of having taught both of his children - the youngest just this year. He recalled how he got to give his son, Eric - a local attorney - his diploma when he graduated in 2006.With a dry sense of humor, he joked that his daughter was the only reason he taught so long."I probably would have gone after 40," he said. "The only reason I stayed on as long as I did, I had a daughter who's a freshman. She wanted me to stay there till she was a freshman."Filer taught biology for his entire tenure at the school. He reflected on how the subject has changed since the implementation of a Keystone exam for high school students who have completed a biology course."You had to change around what you taught," he said. "Then when the test came out, it included things that weren't in the standards."Filer said he's noticed changes in the students as well. While there are many good students today, there is also a sense of entitlement that wasn't present in past generations, he said."You have really good students, and you have ones who are just into video games and that's what they want to do," he said.A Coaldale native, Filer said that he could have settled elsewhere when he jumped at the opportunity to teach at Panther Valley. He was weighing whether to continue in teaching or take an assistant football coach position at Slippery Rock University when he decided to take a job at Panther Valley."It was good to come back home. I've been stuck there ever since," he said.Coaching remained a big part of Filer's career even after returning to his hometown. At different points in his career, he helped coach football, boys' basketball and girls' basketball.His wife, Nancy, also coaches the girls' volleyball team. Filer said that his former students should expect to see him at sporting events, supporting his daughter and her friends."The kids I still know, I'll be able to watch them play sports. I don't think I'll miss too much now, but down the road when my daughter graduates I will," he said.