Mrs. Ruth McCollough and Mr. Grant Masson enjoy their jobs as teachers. Photo by: Reneh Gambrel

By Reneh Gambrel

Every teacher at PHS has his/her own unique story as to why they chose teaching as a profession. Some started teaching when they were twenty, others when they were forty. No matter the age, every teacher has a story to tell.

Mrs. Ruth McCollough teaches Family and Consumer Science (FACS) to students of every grade. Mrs. McCollough decided to become a teacher at the age of forty-five, and says that it was not fun to start teaching at that age. She has now been teaching for thirteen years. Mrs. McCollough reports that her favorite part of teaching now is “Working with young adults and helping them prepare for life from the aspects of family living, financial literacy, nutrition and wellness practices…ie; like skills one needs on a daily basis.”

Mr. Phillip Koops aspired to be a professional basketball player in his younger days. However, Mr. Koops had a few teachers and coaches who had a major impact on his life, and he was inspired to somehow have that same influence on others. Mr. Koops began teaching three years ago, and he said his first day of teaching made him feel like “an athlete before a championship game.” Mr. Koops now teaches Biology and Anatomy.

Mrs. Charlotte Tyree teaches Speech, Theatre Arts II, and Acting classes. Mrs. Tyree felt the need to become a teacher during the time she was a freshman at Indiana University as a voice major in the school of music.  Mrs. Tyree states, “When it rained I would take a short cut through the education building to get to the music building.  One day I picked up a booklet about teaching, read it, and decided that I could combine my love of speech, theatre, and even music if I went into education.” Mrs. Tyree says that her first day of teaching was scary and she felt as though she did not know what she was doing.

When Mr. David McKenzie was a freshman in high school, he wanted to be a landscape architect so he could design golf courses. At the age of 17  he concluded that teaching was a better job for him. Mr. McKenzie teaches Speech and Broadcasting and has been doing so for over 27 years. Mr. McKenzie says that he began teaching because he “needed the money to pay back college loans…and, of course, the classroom was pretty cool, too!”

Mr. Grant Masson originally became a farmer, but while successfully farming he was taking classes to become a teacher, saying it was something he had always wanted to do.  Mr. Masson reports that he got perhaps a maximum of two hours of sleep his first week of teaching. When asked what his first day of teaching was he like, he replied, “SCARY! You enter the classroom for the first time and here are all these kids looking at you with an expression on their faces saying ‘teach me.’” Mr. Masson now teaches Geography and Government and has been teaching for seven years.

The road to becoming a teacher can be difficult at times for some, but teachers at PHS overcame the difficulties and began their futures of teaching youth.

Mr. David McKenzie originally thought he was going to be a golf course designer instead of being a broadcasting teacher because not many schools have broadcasting programs. Photo by: Reneh Gambrel