Why did you become a history teacher; why specifically AP world history?

Before I was a teacher, I worked in TV news and I hated it. The reason I hated it was not that it was stressful, but that on a daily basis you were grinding through deadlines. Everyday some cooperation would be able to charge more money for ads, and that didn’t motivate me. A year into [it], I realized I’m not made to [work in] a job that’s just not worth it. While it might sound cheesy, I wanted to have a job that made a difference. I’m interested in people and how we work. There’s a big picture of how people and systems behave. how we got to where we are and why we are the way we are.

Do you have any teachers during high school that would’ve inspired you to become a teacher?

I did not like history class. I found it very boring. It took the stuff I liked and made the worst version of it. So I’ve always been motivated as a teacher to just be not my high school teachers. The one class I did enjoy was AP government, it was hooked on good interesting questions and I remember kids hated my teachers political views. She gleefully got us into debates and let us talk it out and insisted on reasoning and evidence. It was for some kids a love hate class but I really liked it.

What high school stereotype were you?

In high school I was a little bit of everything, but I didn’t belong to anything.I made All-state jazz band as a sophomore and also played volleyball, so everyone knew I was the tall and athletic kid of the group. I believe I had the highest SAT score in my senior [class]. I was in all honors, so I was definitely that nerd kid. I floated between groups, and didn’t belong to really any of them per say. So was I a nerd? Yes of course, I don’t think people understood how much of a nerd I was.

Is teaching a hard career in 2020?

It is. Especially for people who want to be better at this weird hybrid COVID-19 thing,It is rough. We are having to figure out all a lot of things. A lot of teachers are creatures of habit, and this has shoved against habit really bad. But as a career, I think it’s as hard as you want it to be. There’s never enough time. If you really enjoy it, the difficult things you tend to ignore or put me with because it is also quite a rewarding career.

Worst injury you’ve ever had?

My freshman year of high school on the football team I broke the tibia and fibula in my left leg. A teammate of mine ran into me, and I guess my lower leg [snapped]. It broke the bones clean though, my foot was lying at an angle it was not supposed to. I was on my back with my shoulder pad on, and I could not to see that my leg was facing the wrong direction, but the coaches could.

What’s your craziest teaching story?

My favorite stories [were] where I sorta tricked my kids in some way. One of my favorites was tricking another teacher. He really wanted a good roller chair with really plush leather. Another teacher borrowed a chair like that from her brother’s medical office and we gave it to this guy and let him enjoy it for a day. We then broke into his classroom, stole it and put a bad chair in to replace it, and videoed the only thing. We waited till the next day and he spent the next 3 months trying to hunt down the chair and the person who did it. He found out and eventually put all my whistles in an ice block to get back at me.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?

Spending time with my 18 month old daughter. But personally I’m a bit of a gaming nerd. Since COVID-19 I haven’t been able to get a Dungeons and Dragons (DND) group together in years. We have an online voice chat on discord on Wednesdays. We’ve had a running group since April for the first time since college. I enjoy the narrative storytelling and we don’t take it too seriously

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Want to learn cool facts about your AP government teachers? Read Eva Wheelers Q&A with @Learnfrom for Teacher of the issue. Photos by @(Lilly’s twitter). #LocalEyesLocalNews #CHSRelentless