Many teachers were students before, just like we are now. Even though they are now in charge of classrooms and have to grade many assignments, they were once in the same place we are now, worried about grades, homework, and figuring out who they were and what they wanted to be in life. Looking back at their high school years shows students what their teachers were really like.
Here are some of the teachers I interviewed who talk about their high school days, their likes and dislikes, and more.
Kylie Gallacher is a Math teacher at Pasco High, and when I asked her questions, she said, “Around like the theater kids, I was a lot more outgoing, but in my classes, I was pretty quiet. I was in the drama club, knowledgeable, and in the science Olympiad. Probably when I got to direct a play my senior year, and introducing it on opening night was probably one of the best memories. The play was called 30 Reasons Not to Be in a Play. It was very sarcastic.” When I asked her about her best-liked subject and disliked subject in school, she responded, “ELA. Math, I hated math in high school.” When we talked about teachers that influenced her and if she saw similarities between her high school self and her students now, she responded with, “I think there were more teachers that influenced me away from certain things. And so they weren’t positive influences. I think I have a lot of math teachers who have influenced the way that I’m a teacher now, because I was like, ” Oh, those teachers are terrible. And so I think that’s the biggest influence they’ve had on me. Yes and no, a lot of the similarities I think is like the anxieties that I see a lot of students have about their grades, which I’m like I had a lot of anxiety about putting myself worth, I’m only as good as my grades, and so if my grades are bad, then I must be bad.” Somethings she also said was “Don’t worry folks, high school ends I promise.”
Another teacher is Nancy Holton, she teaches at Pasco High, I got the opportunity to ask her questions about her best memories and how she was, she responded with, “I would say quiet. If I were with my friend, I would be a little more outgoing. No, I tried to be a cheerleader. I would say in my high school in Hawaii, we didn’t have a traditional schedule like this. So, like, on Sundays, I would have a class for an hour in the morning and maybe not do anything else till the afternoon, but we had to stay on campus, so there was this courtyard with big banana trees, a little stage, benches, and stuff like that. So we would all hang out there, yes, have fun, talk, and that kind of stuff till our next class. So I think that’s probably the best memories that I had there.” When we talked about teachers that influenced her and if she saw similarities between her high school self and her students now, she responded, “It was my fourth-grade French teacher, I had her fourth grade and eighth grade. She was the biggest influence and the reason I wanted to continue with French because I had her since fourth grade. Oh yeah, you guys don’t change, you try to get away with stuff, and I got away with stuff in high school too. Yeah, I know, I know what to look for.” One piece of advice she gave was, “Just enjoy high school and don’t try to grow up so fast.”
It’s always interesting to learn what a teacher was like in high school; some of them were once like how we are today. By learning more about them, we can develop a deeper understanding and greater trust, knowing that we share similar experiences from when they were in school.
Learning about teachers as students can help students understand that teachers had similar experiences to those of students today; their high school years were also about growing, learning, changing, and discovering who they were as people and who they wanted to become.
