This week’s teacher of the week is English teacher Mr. Lynn. Mr. Lynn has been teaching in Junction City since the spring semester of 2015. Recently I was given the chance to interview Mr. Lynn and gain some insight into his life.

Lexe West: So, why did you want to become a teacher?

Mr. Lynn: I first off really love my content which is English, and second off the thing that I really enjoy about English is the literary criticism, and so when deciding on a career, teaching literary criticism was something I found myself to be pretty good at. Also, I can put up with high-schoolers pretty well.

Lexe West: Was there ever any other career that you wanted?

Mr. Lynn: Yeah, I was a couple of years into engineering, civil. I really like math and problem solving and things of that nature but because of solo time- which if you’ve met me, I’m a pretty social, outgoing person- didn’t fit my personality so I switched paths.

Lexe West: Where did you go to college?

Mr. Lynn: I went to K-state. I almost went to Arkansas, their honors program. They had an honors engineering program that I almost joined.

Lexe West: Why did you go to K-state instead?

Mr. Lynn: I decided to stay closer to home, K-state’s engineering program helped. Luckily they also had a really good education program so that was nice to switch majors and it wasn’t too big of a deal.

Lexe West: What made you want to teach high school opposed to younger grades?

Mr. Lynn: You guys are starting to get it, like starting to become humans. Before sophomore year I don’t super enjoy teaching every day because you still have to hold hands a lot and things like that, I don’t know. I’m not as empathetic to things like that I guess.

Lexe West: Why not teach older kids?

Mr. Lynn: Like college? That might be something I do further down, I thought about getting into academia, and I think I would enjoy that a lot as well. For now, though high school seems to be fine.

Lexe West: What’s your family life like?

Mr. Lynn: I’m married, I’ve been happily married for almost a year and a half now. I come from a really great family; mom, dad, and a little sister. I’ve always had a great family situation, I can’t complain. All of my extended family, I still see them quite a bit and have a big extended family. We’re pretty close to them as well.

Lexe West: Where did you come from before coming to Junction City?

Mr. Lynn: I’m from Minneapolis, Kansas, it’s a really small town about an hour from here. It was a great town to grow up in, it was a 3A high school, it’s not nearly as diverse, more of a rural community. I had a really great high school experience, it was a smaller school, and in order for smaller schools to run you have to do a lot of different activities. I was in the musical, the play, I was STUCO president, NHS president, I ran meals on wheels, I did every season of sports, I did choir, show choir, band. Pretty much anything that there was to do I was involved in it. I think that really made me a more well-rounded person, and I can relate to more people this way. When you get out in the real world- when you go to college, go outside of your bubble- you have something to relate to about everybody.

Lexe West: What brought you to Junction City?

Mr. Lynn: I went to K-State once I switched to secondary education with a specific focus in English, I student taught here with Mr. D and I graduated in the fall- December- and the school had an opening. There was a teacher that was leaving in January because her husband was in the military. So I interviewed the week that I graduated from college, and I got the job. I think having student taught here helped me for sure. I interviewed the 2^nd, was hired the 4^th, and started teaching the 6^th. I had never taught juniors before and that was the class that I got, so that was a little stressful.

Lexe West: What made you switch down to sophomores instead of staying with juniors?

Mr. Lynn: The next year they changed who teaches what. There was another teacher who retired who had been senior English so somebody who was teaching mainly sophomores switched to seniors, and because I had student taught sophomores they plugged me in there since I had things planned for the year. Also, they were changing the curriculum for sophomores and I felt comfortable taking the lead on planning the new curriculum.

Lexe West: What do you do outside of school?

Mr. Lynn: I do quite a lot of things. In nice weather, I golf and go running. I also like to read. I go to k-state games, I work on my house- I bought a house last summer and so my wife has quite a few projects she likes to keep my busy with. Also, like I mentioned earlier, I go to a lot of family events. My wife also has a pretty large extended family so usually, we have something going on. We also have a pretty big friend group that we like to do stuff with.

Lexe West: What’s your favorite part about teaching?

Mr. Lynn: When students start to figure it out on their own, bring up their own ideas and want to know what’s happening. Being able to have those discussions about why they think what they think, and then also just getting to explain what’s going on in literature, that’s always enjoyable. When you guys have those moments of clarity and get to have a discussion as an adult for a few minutes. But also seeing students from where they start to where they end, that growth and the self-expectation rise, is enjoyable.

Lexe West: Do you have any future plans you’re excited about?

Mr. Lynn: Career wise, I’m going to start my masters next year so that’s exciting. I planned a new unit this year so that was enjoyable, and seeing what the future holds career-wise that’s exciting. As far as personal, just continuing my house and just live my life with my wife.

Lexe West: Do you have a favorite quote?

Mr. Lynn: That’s a good one. As far as quotes go it would depend on if you were talking about poetry or a novel. I have quite a few that I’ve gathered through the years so I can’t say that I have a favorite.

Lexe West: What about a favorite book?

Mr. Lynn: My favorite book is the hobbit and there are several reasons for that. My mom was a reading specialist so when I was younger my dad and I had a quota we had to get to every night. When I was younger he would obviously read to me, and then as I got older I had a certain amount of pages I would read every night. So, the hobbit was one of the first books where my dad read it to me, and then I read it myself, and then revisited it once I got older and it just has a nostalgic feel to it.

Mr. Lynn is a very charismatic person and he cares a lot about the success of his students. There is never a dull moment in his classroom.