Merlin Herrera
Mr. Schultz at his desk during History class.
Mr. Schultz, AMS’ beloved gym teacher, decided it was time to take a step back from physical education and become a history teacher. Talk about literally rewriting history! Mr. Schultz sees letting go of being a gym teacher as bittersweet. He’s taught physical education for 17+ years, starting back in 2008. He eventually knew it was time to move on and to push himself to teach something he is very passionate about.
“I was mostly a phys-ed teacher. I don’t miss it that much because I was ready to try something new. So the little feelings that I do have of missing it, they don’t compare to the overwhelming sense of happiness I had of trying something new,” Mr. Schultz said.
Favorite teaching moments
Mr. Schultz was asked about his favorite moments that came with being a gym teacher. He expressed his love for team building, exercising, and bringing people together. He loves team building “because that translates into other things as far as personal growth that you can use in other things in your life.” The activities aren’t just to make you talk to new people, but to learn to work with people you don’t interact with; it’s to get you to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Mr. Schultz believes that taking on this new opportunity has opened up chances for others. “By leaving, I get to do something that I really want to do, and it allows Mr. Gonzalez to be a Department leader, and it allows Mr. Loumuscio to come from Validus to work with us, which he’s always wanted to do, and I always wanted to have him work for our school. So I’m just very happy.” Mr. Schultz was glad that not only did he benefit, but others did as well, making him even more comfortable with leaving his position. But as anyone would, he misses his PE team.
A valuable message to students
Mr. Schultz also felt that being a gym teacher had become stagnant. How he felt about being a gym teacher 10 years ago is completely different from how he felt before his switch. He said, “You’re doing the same thing over and over again for so long. The days just run into each other. It doesn’t give it a lot of new and exciting feelings.” He wanted to explore a different path; one that inspired him was becoming a history teacher. He could help students in new areas that he couldn’t when he was a PE teacher.
Mr. Schultz was asked what message his switch allows students at AMS to acknowledge. He expressed, “I think it’s just in life, you can’t stay in one spot for so long because it’s comfortable. You’re meant to keep progressing as a person for yourself and for the world. Through your own successes, you bring other successes for other people.” If you’re no longer happy in your position, that just means you’re ready to become better at something else, whether that be a new career, job, etc. Wanting a change isn’t something wrong, but amazing. You’re making a variety of contributions to those around you when you become wiser from new experiences.
A different workload
Mr. Schultz also talked about the difference in work because while being a PE teacher he would have less work, he didn’t have any work to take home to grade; instead he would just grade on the participation a student would make in the PE lessons.
When he switched to be a history teacher and a careers elective he knew that there would be more work but he enjoys doing it. “There are certain stresses that I took on…but those are good stresses.” Mr.Schultz demonstrated that even if sometimes there are moments that the work becomes stressful it’s not bad because at the end of the day he is doing a different type of work that he finds happiness in.
Mr. Schultz noted that, compared to his time as a PE teacher, he is now constantly engaged in work. In the past, during his free periods, he mostly spent time entering grades, but now that he has switched roles, he finds himself occupied with lesson planning and grading more often.
New routine at home
Mr. Schultz said that after his switch he started to manage his time at home because he has taken on more responsibilities but at the same time he is able to manage his time at home with his family. He is able to make use of his time during school so he doesn’t have to take a lot of it home. The majority of the time is only for him to grade work.
“When I do lesson planning, I can’t really do it around my kids, I’m just distracted. But when you’re grading you could still do it around the kids. So now I just grade around my family and then I do my lesson planning when I have my own time by myself.”