Nearly 20% of PHS staff members were students here at PHS. They explain that there have been many changes to PHS since they were in school and tell about why they decided to come back.

Since PHS was built, there have been many modifications. These include both physical appearance of the school and the inside atmosphere. Choir teacher, Mrs. Mary Pat Glaub said “The biggest changes are the varsity gym and the music wing. When I was in high school we played our basketball games at the junior high and the music room (yes there was only one) was where the Red Rock Cafe is now located. And the band and choirs all shared the same space.” English teacher, Mr. Josh Martin said “There wasn’t a lot of technology in the late 80s and early 90s. I also think PHS has made great efforts to stay abreast of the best techniques for teaching. The curriculum is much more rigorous as well. I think I wrote like two papers my entire senior year and read one novel. These days students are writing all over the place and reading constantly in all four grade levels.”

With some teachers being at PHS for a total of almost 30 years, students begin to wonder ‘why did they decide to return and teach at PHS’ and ‘did PHS influence them on their choice of career’. Jesse teacher, Mrs. Carin Plothow, said “I honestly wanted to teach primary aged kids but there was an opening at PHS the week that I graduated from college so I came back, interviewed and started that May!”

While being at PHS so long these teachers have collected lots of memories. Mrs. Plothow said her favorite memory as a student was the 1982 State Basketball Championship, she also said, “I think many of my favorites include also being here with my three oldest kids as they experienced high school and teaching with my husband.”

Mr. Martin said, “There are so many [memories] the daily laughs the students and I sometimes share make the job worthwhile. But maybe having the National Honor Society members vote me Teacher of Excellence for the year of 2008 was pretty memorable.  It’s one thing to be recognized by your peers and superiors, but when students take notice of the efforts you make as an educator, it’s quite an honor…students know when a teacher cares about his/her job and they can see through someone who doesn’t take the job seriously.”

Over the years while being at PHS, some teachers say they miss some of the old ways and wish they had done things a little differently when they were in school. Mrs. Carin Plothow misses the “hour long lunch and being able to go off campus when [she] was in school.” Mr. Martin regrets not joining the Speech and Debate team, he said, “Back then Mr. Tyree was one of the coaches and tried to talk me into it, but I didn’t have the motivation and insight to see what a wonderful experience it would be.  The speech team has had wonderful success and tradition for decades and many bright young people have built their futures around those experiences…I wish I could have been a part of that.”

Though, there are some things teachers wish they had done differently and wish were done differently at PHS, all the teachers that were former PHS students would agree with Mr. Josh Martin and Mrs. Glaub. Both teachers concluded and believe PHS is a great school, Mrs. Glaub said “It’s a school with lots of opportunities for every student: Music, speech, athletics……we give kids lots of choices. I think being a student here and now a teacher- it helps when you are guiding kids through their journey at PHS. ”

When seeing a PHS teacher, students should remember that some of them were once a student too.