After 47 years in the classroom, Trevor Hunt has decided to retire from teaching - a career he has said he has enjoyed for "every moment".

"It's got to a stage where it's time to consider other aspects of my life," Mr Hunt said.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

"I liked the staff and got along well with everyone and I loved the kids.

"I had a ball, I loved the kids here."

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Mr Hunt was employed at the Ararat high school for seven years, heading the science department for six.

"I came home to Stawell and helped my parents in their later stages of life and I got a part time gig at the school," he said.

"I didn't come here to teach, I was semi-retired really.

"I did a bit of CRT (casual relief teaching) work actually and Carmel Barker (Marian College principal) said we have a vacancy for a year in 2015.

"She asked me to head up science at the end of that year and the rest is as they say is history, I have been here ever since."

Marian College principal Carmel Barker said Mr Hunt was a "highly passionate, inspiring teacher" during his tenure at the school.

"With the energy of someone half his age, Trevor (Hunt) has created a thriving, highly supportive environment to challenge and extend the interest, knowledge and skills of both students and staff in his department" she said.

"He has supported and encouraged many young people to excel.

"With a passion for all things Star Wars and with the right blend of humour, wit and professionalism, Trevor (Hunt) has created a very productive, innovative climate for improvement."

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Under his leadership, students have represented the college at the National Youth Science Forum, Girls in Physics, and in the case of one young student, Michigan University in the US.

"I sent a lot of kids to the national youth science forum with the help of the local rotary club who helped sponsor them," he said.

"Those students who had been on that have had unbelievable growth in what they perceive they can manage in life and what they can actually achieve.

"It was great, they were terrific kids.

"It has had a big impact on those students, it has also had a big impact on their peers.

"It has probably been the highlight for me."

Mr Hunt has been employed at 10 different high schools across his 47 year career.

"It's gone pretty quick, when you get to my age time fly's by," he said.

"A number of schools, too many to count."

Hunt said teaching was "a pretty good lifestyle".

"I actually became a math teacher because I thought the world of a math teacher when I was a student," he said.

"A lot of people follow that path and become teachers because someone had a big impact on them as a teenager."

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Mr Hunt said retirement would provide him the opportunity to give time to his passions outside the school gates.

"I am on holiday for the rest of my life," he said.

"I am an amateur photographer and I like photographing wildlife.

"I hope to get away to some wild spots and take some photographs and the most immediate plan is to go to the Solomon Islands for a couple of months.

"The grandkids will get to see me more than the last two years, that's for sure."

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