Over the years, many teachers have come and gone since the school’s founding in 1969. While there are many newer teachers in classrooms today, there are also teachers who have taught at MHS for decades and have witnessed many changes.
For instance, English teacher Skyler Draeger has taught at MHS since the 1997-1998 school year, he said. Draeger has seen a number of changes to his curriculum, including books that were published after he started teaching, he added.
“In my sophomore class, next semester, I’ll be teaching ‘The Kite Runner,’ which wasn’t even published until after I became a teacher,” Draeger said. “In my Read 180 class, we read ‘The Hate U Give,’ which is also a recent book. I’m teaching another book right now called ‘Akata Witch.’”
Draeger has also taught classes that started after he began teaching, he said. In addition to his English classes, he has also taught non-departmental and history courses in the past, he said.
“So the Read 180 program didn’t exist when I started,” Draeger said. “I was one of the first teachers teaching it. AVID had only been around for a couple of years when I started, and I became an AVID teacher for a long time. I taught Facing History and Ourselves. The course did exist when I first came, but it got a lot bigger when I was here.”
Social studies teacher Paul Harrison, who began teaching at MHS in the late 1980s, also talked about topics that weren’t taught in the curriculum until major world events occurred, he said.
“The attack on September 11th, that definitely had an impact, where we had to learn more about what is Al Qaeda, what’s their objective,” Harrison said. “The War on Terror, as they call it, that definitely has become a big thing that we’ve taught.”
Another significant change Harrison witnessed was the switch to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Harrison said. It was then he began utilizing digital resources more, he said.
“That first experience of having to work remotely, and how suddenly we had to do everything electronically with Google Classroom and Zoom was a dramatic change, one of the biggest changes to how I teach,” Harrison said. “Before, I hardly ever used Google, and now I use it every day. I completely manage my classes through that.”
Another gradual change at MHS throughout the years is the physical campus, as science teacher Letta Meyer said. Meyer has taught at MHS for 25 years, she said.
“I first got here when the L building had just opened, and then they were doing reconstruction on a lot of the buildings,” Meyer said. “I remember the fields getting put in, our turf getting put in.”
Meyer also shared her observations on how the use of technology has impacted students, including changes to certain traits of student behavior, such as attention span and diligence.
“A lot of it has been that your attention span is not nearly as long,” Meyer said. “Also, the want to have everything now and lack of patience and willing to work for something is not nearly as strong as it used to be.”
Despite the many changes to MHS, Draeger still enjoys teaching due to the endless possibilities, he said.
“One thing I’ve always enjoyed about teaching – it’s never boring,” Draeger said. “Even if I’m teaching the same class, I can do it in a different way. The students ask different questions, their personalities are different, so sometimes things are hard, but they’re always interesting.”
