David Atkinson works in what is perhaps the most challenging teaching environment in public education.

“The street is my classroom,” he says.

It is not uncommon this time of year to see Atkinson and one of his students repeatedly crossing busy Columbia intersections on foot.

His job is to teach blind children the skills they’ll need the rest of their lives to function in the world.

After four decades teaching students how to do what most of us take for granted, Atkinson will retire later this month. He and his wife will relocate to a cabin they’re building on a lake in North Carolina.

He began his career in his native Minnesota and worked for a while in Tennessee but has spent 23 years in South Carolina, initially with the S.C. School for the Deaf and Blind and the past seven years for Richland 1.

“I fell in love with the idea of working with the blind,” he said. “It’s one-on-one. It’s reality based. It’s practical.”

His roster may range from six to 12 students a year.

Sixth-grader Tori Rivers Diamond has been his student since she was three. Last week, he took the 12-year-old Crayton Middle School student to the intersection of Forest Drive and Trenholm Road for a lesson.

White cane extending down toward the pavement, clicking it side-to-side, Tori listened intently for clues from vehicles and Atkinson about when to cross as many as five lanes in 15 to 20 seconds.

“I make them think,” Atkinson said. “Their situations require them to think more than you and I do. We work on that every day.”

At 64, Atkinson can still walk briskly enough to keep pace with the eager adolescent. “These kids keep me young,” he said. “I’m going to miss that part.”

“He’s a very good teacher,” Tori said. He’s nice. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t know all this stuff.”

“All this stuff” might include stopping in a doughnut shop near the busy intersection and purchasing a sweet treat with chocolate icing all by herself.

Or asking for directions to the peanut butter aisle in the grocery store and how to seek help reaching a jar on the top shelf.

Tracy Bundy, a school-bound teacher of the visually impaired, said Atkinson has a rapport with students that will be difficult to replace.

“What he’s done with them, from the time they start school until they graduate, is nothing short of extraordinary,” she said. “These kids are able to go out and be a fully integrated part of society if they want to.”

Tori said Atkinson can be demanding, but she also knows it is because he cares about her.

“I’ve had to learn when to step in to help, and when to leave them alone,” Atkinson said.

“The toughest part of this job is sending them around that intersection by themselves.”

“They have to learn to trust me,” Atkinson said. “When they learn that ... they gain an appreciation of what I’m trying to do.”

After his intersection-crossing lesson with Tori last week, Atkinson took a few days off to have a procedure he hopes will restore some hearing in one of his ears. He wears hearing aids to compensate for nerve damage, but doesn’t let the condition hamper his ability to deal with those around him.

Pat Sarka, Bundy’s teaching assistant, admires Atkinson’s humility, sense of humor and generosity. Her grandson shadowed him to fulfill a Boy Scout merit badge requirement, and Sarka said the young man came away impressed.

Atkinson has been known to give a needy student a winter coat, Sarka said, or help another overcome fears about getting involved in an extra-curricular activity, like wrestling.

Atkinson’s retirement stirs mixed emotions in Tori.

“I’m sad and happy at the same time,” she said. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

Call Robinson at (803) 771-8482.