Brian Herrig

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher after seeing how much fun my Spanish teacher had while teaching and how much we enjoyed her classes. Every class was an adventure, and I wanted to carry on that legacy into my own classroom. I now strive to make every lesson meaningful, fun, and ridiculous to show students that school can be fun and worthwhile while developing their skills!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable experience happened over the first three years of my career. Because of what my student teaching host teachers taught me, I taught with an iron fist for two years, and I noticed that I did not enjoy teaching and many students did not enjoy my classes. I decided to then try in my third year to just be myself: energetic, make classes game-ified, and just be me. Students quickly were more engaged in my classes, and I quickly noticed that I enjoyed teaching much more.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would use the money to improve several teams and clubs that I am a part of here at our high school. I would purchase new basketballs and ball storage for our intramural basketball league, purchase push carts for our boys golf team, and if there are enough funds, build a walkway to our indoor golf practice area (we currently need to put down the bleachers each time to reach the area, which takes up more gym space just with bleachers).