By Christina Burke
Staff Writer
The walls are bare in the classrooms of Creighton Hulse and Patrick Melville as the two prepare to turn off the lights of their Coppell teaching careers and walk off into new adventures.
After learning of an opportunity to take their teaching skills across the globe, Hulse and Melville seized the opportunity and applied. This is the chance of a lifetime for two young teachers who love to travel and are not afraid to take a bold chance.
Hulse will be teaching English at a public school in China to students planning to transfer to American universities. After his initial two-year contract, he plans to continue teaching and experience some new opportunities.
“My wife and I have always talked about traveling, and then we just decided to move abroad,” Hulse said. “Both of our families knew that we liked to travel and wanted to, but they had no idea that we were looking into moving abroad until this January. They were all really cool with it and they were excited.”
Melville is transferring to a private International Baccalaureate school in Frankfort, Germany to continue his career as a Spanish teacher. His initial two-year contact begins this August, but he is hoping to stay for a longer duration of time.
“I would like to get some experience in at least one other country as well,” Melville said. “Maybe spend two to five years in Germany and another two to five somewhere else like Italy, France or anywhere really. After that I would like to come back to the United States and continue teaching here.”
Although major adjustments in lifestyle and culture will be necessary for both Hulse and Melville and their families to live abroad, their passion for traveling and teaching will get them through it with ease.
“I am a language teacher, so I love learning languages and I wanted to learn another one,” Melville said. “I figured the best way to do that would be to reverse myself in the culture and the language, plus I just wanted to get out there and see the world.”
Fellow Spanish teacher Cathy Vanover admits that she is going to miss the dynamic Spanish teaching duo and the character traits that they have brought to the Spanish program at CHS.
“[I am going to miss] their progressive ideas in teaching, their enthusiasm for teaching, their willingness to try new ideas and their encouragement in implementing those ideas as a fellow teacher,” Vanover said. “Mr. Hulse has brought a lot of energy and innovative methodology to the high school for teaching Spanish. Teachers like Mr. Melville have really inspired me to be a better teacher, but I saw that mostly because he taught my son in the IB program.”
Many students will find it difficult to see these teachers go.
“They are just overall amazing teachers and really good guys. They make students feel very comfortable,” sophomore Bianca Gabardo said. “It breaks my heart that they are leaving, but I am excited for them to have this opportunity.”
Vanover is a complete supporter of Hulse and Melville’s decision to seize this opportunity. She is happy for them and excited to hear how it goes in the future.
“They are going to be great ambassadors for the United States and for our education program,” Vanover said. “I could not be more excited for them to get to experience another culture and another way of life.”
With this opportunity rapidly approaching, Hulse and Melville remain anxious about their new opportunities. Although they are counting down the days to the launch of their new lifestyle, they will never forget their days spent at CHS and the people they impacted along the way.
“I do not care about the time zone. I will wake them up with FaceTime and Skype,” Gabardo said. “I will definitely try my best to stay in touch and hopefully I will. I can speak for all students when I say they will be missed, and we all wish them luck in the future.”
