History teacher Mr. Hallum knows firsthand that teaching is a team sport. Many students don’t see what happens behind the scenes for teachers, but their experiences are remarkably similar yet different from the students.
Mr. Hallum, a world history teacher hired in the 2025-26 school year, shared his experience teaching at MECHS compared to other schools. “I know what it’s like going to a big school,” he said, reflecting on his high school years at Smithson Valley High. “It’s crowded, and you’re walking the halls shoulder to shoulder, I know that. I enjoyed my experience, loved every one of my teachers there… And I’ll tell you that going to a small college, and then teaching at Smithson Valley Middle, and then teaching at the previous high school I was at, compared to here as well, all of my experience collectively, I agree with you that the small atmosphere really benefits people better.” Hallum went on to explain that a smaller school like MECHS provides more one-on-one instruction to students and fosters a community-based atmosphere that he and many students thrive in.
The past few months haven’t all been smooth sailing, but Mr. Hallum has had help adjusting to the changes he faced.
“So, Ashley Keip has been a very big helper. Ms. Keip she’s our curriculum lady here, and she’s wonderful. She’s our curriculum coach. Praise to her for how hard she works, because she takes a lot of the stress off us teachers in doing certain things.” Mr. Hallum’s thanks to Ms. Keip were twofold – as he explained, the dual-teacher Humanities class that he teaches has taken time to get used to. “Ultimately, the challenge that I faced was trying to come in new and work together with people that I didn’t know. And actually, I like teaching on my own, but here I am dual-teaching, and it’s working. So that was a challenge on my own, was to plan everything together as a team rather than me planning everything, which I was used to…”
Mr. Hallum noted that keeping an organized to-do list of tasks helped him with planning. His notebook is color-coded by importance, which stops the list from becoming overwhelming.
“That way I can prioritize things that need importance, and I check them off. I just check off, and I just pick one important thing each time.” He gave an example from his notebook, showing how the color-coding helps to hone in on one task at a time. “So today I’ve got to make sure that I connect to my calendars and I create some essays. Those are important today, right? So, yeah, that’s kind of helped me regulate how much is going on, and it helps me kind of calm down and look at just one thing to focus on. There’s a lot in here, but I just look at that one thing and go, okay, let me just knock that.”
While a teacher’s workday might not include writing essays or solving math equations as often as a student’s, many elements are more similar than one may expect. The size of a given school and its resulting culture have profound effects on teacher and student interaction, and everyone has to work collaboratively from time to time. Perhaps there should be more talk between teachers and students about their personal solutions to challenges; working together with others, organizing to-do lists by priority, and many other strategies can help the whole school run smoothly.
