Gainesville High: A Change of Heart and Accepting of a Challenge
Since I first walked onto the campus of my alma mater, Buchholz High School, I have felt a sense of pride and belonging about being a Bobcat. One of the first things I learned as a student of BHS, though, was the following: You do not associate good feelings with Gainesville High School (GHS), our across-town rival in every facet of school. They are the enemy and should be treated as such. Fast forward a decade later, and I received a call from my former high school Assistant Principal, Mr. Shelnutt, who was now the Principal of GHS. He was calling me to offer me the opportunity to take over for the LEGENDARY Mr. Owens, who had taught the Thinking Skills and Problem Solving class within the Cambridge Program for a little over 20 years. Having just finished my fifth year teaching at Howard Bishop Middle School, I was intrigued by the challenge of making the jump to high school and trying to maintaining the level of excellence that had already been established there. I ended up accepting the job after several days of very tough decision-making, thinking through every possible scenario, and contending with the Bobcat Spirit that still resided in my soul. Currently in my first year, I am loving being a member of "The G" and am looking forward to developing more "purple passion" in the years to come. As they say around my new place of employment, "it's a great day to be a Cane!"
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The One Million Dollar Question...
Ever since I took my first teaching job at Howard Bishop in 2016, and now moving onto Gainesville High School in 2021, there has been one question that I have been asked more than any others:
1) Why choose to stay in Alachua County, instead of going somewhere else?
Well, let me break this down for you...
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1) Why choose to stay in Alachua County, instead of going somewhere else?
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First of all, it made sense personally. When I graduated high school, many people could not wait to get out of Gainesville; feeling like doing so was going to help them break some imaginary chains that were holding them captive and stifling their ability to develop individuality/a sense of self. And you know what? I completely understand that... One of the beautiful things about life here on Earth is that there is no "right way" to live it... So, to those people that knew they needed to leave to figure out who they were, more credit to them. However, I knew around junior year of high school that I wasn't one of those people; I knew that Gainesville was my home. When I say home, I'm not talking about in the sense of my birthplace and where I was raised, but where I wanted to make my life. It's where I learned who I was, it's where I'm going to raise my kids and have them go to school, and it's where I will someday retire.
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Secondly, staying in Alachua County just made sense professionally. After high school, I was lucky enough to be accepted into the University of Florida, a place I had dreamed about attending ever since my parents first dressed me in an orange and blue onesie and I put my right hand over my left, clapping them in the vertical motion. Knowing I wanted to go into education, I kept into contact with many of my former teachers. Over those four years of college (five, if you include getting my Masters in Secondary Social Studies Education), the craziest thing happened; many of my teachers were promoted to positions as either Assistant Principals, Principals, or one of various positions within the District Office. Now, the connections I had made were even more valuable. On top of this, despite their now increasingly busy schedules, all of these people were consistently there for me, answering any questions I had for them. Plus, seeing my former teachers do exactly what I had envisioned for myself (working my way up to becoming a Principal, all while impacting the lives of others through the education system), reminded me of all that the Alachua County Public School System had done for me. All of this combined together caused my desire to give back to the community that had given so much to me to grow even more immense... and that's really what the answer to this question comes down to:
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I teach in Alachua County because it is the city that helped develop me, the community that has never turned its back on me, and it is the place where my family is located, both present and future. Through being in education, I hope that I can at least half way repay Gainesville for what it has given to me and help make my corner of the world a better place to live for many generations to come.
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