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Substitute teacher Martin Carole has seen just about everything a room full of students has to offer.

At 83 years old, with 60 years in the classroom under his belt, the Oxon Hill High School instructor has had thousands of students pass through his classrooms, worked with nine different administrations at the school and even had a student try to smoke a joint during one of his classes.

"I didn't think I would have become so engrossed with [teaching]," said Carole, of Temple Hills. "The kids — that's where it's at. They're nicer now than they've been throughout the years."

Carole spent the first 30 years of his career as a music teacher in public schools in Washington, D.C., and the last 30 years as a substitute teacher at Oxon Hill High. His longevity in the profession is no accident, he said.

"Teaching was destined for me since I was 5 years old. My mother and grandmother drilled into my head that I was going to be a teacher," he said. "I embraced it. Teachers were somebody — if you were a teacher in the community you were respected just as much as a lawyer or doctor."

Born in the District in the 1920s, Carole — who has been married for 38 years and has five children and three grandchildren — said he was raised in a close-knit community in which racial segregation and discrimination limited career choices for blacks.

Being a school teacher was of the few careers that commanded respect, he said, adding that the legacy continued when his daughter, Joyce Brentley, taught music at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie during the 1980s.

And after graduating in 1949 from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., with a degree in music education, Carole began teaching at Letcher Art Center, a now-closed school in the District for veterans. His students included veterans from World Wars I and II and the Korean War.

He eventually passed rigorous written and physical exams to become a public school teacher, earning a then-impressive salary of $3,130. Carole said he led an active life in the arts with his students at Terrell Junior High School in the District in the 1950s, helping produce orchestras.

But faculty and students at Oxon Hill High know Carole for his more recent tenure as a substitute teacher. He has been at the school longer than most teachers, and often provides useful history lessons for the school's newcomers.

"He gives the students a wealth of knowledge," said Paulette Brown, a peer mediator at the school. "He just cares — he just feels like he has to do something."

Students said they come to rely on Carole for local history lessons and opportunities.

Senior Kayla Morrison, 17, said Carole had encouraged her to join the Air Force and go to college, offering her information on a scholarship program.

"I love Mr. Carole. He knows so much. He is so inviting and friendly," she said.

Even after 60 years in the classroom, Carole said he is not yet ready to leave education behind.

"Who needs to stop working? I'm having too much fun," he said. "You can either wear out or rust out — I prefer to wear out."