He shares that it wasn’t long ago that he attended high school two hours north in the Belleville area. From there, he moved to Champaign, where he attended the University of Illinois. In May, Ryan graduated with a history degree and a minor in secondary education.

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Ryan shares that he and his wife recently moved to Carbondale so that his wife could begin her first year of medical school at Southern Illinois University. While Ryan interviewed at several area schools, he says something just ‘clicked’ when he visited Meridian. As he talks about his experience, it feels more like he’s describing a campus tour instead of an interview, remarking on how open and welcoming the administration, faculty, and staff were.

 

This openness helped Meridian stand out from the other schools where Ryan applied to teach. When looking for a school, Ryan searched for a community where he could make a difference and an administration that genuinely cared. He felt confident he found both in Meridian.

 

Having student-taught in Rantoul, Ryan witnessed the ability of teachers to impact students’ lives firsthand and wanted to find a similar opportunity. Or, as Ryan describes it, “I’d rather help somebody who actually needs help as opposed to teaching advanced placement classes somewhere else.”

 

Ryan describes himself as a nerdy, book-reading kind of kid who gravitated towards history at a young age, often choosing to read non-fiction over fiction. He likes to talk, get up and move, and teach. He knew he wanted to be a history teacher from a young age.

 

Ryan shows obvious excitement as she shares that he was able to design a lot of his own course materials, a luxury he suggests most teachers don’t get. This freedom has proven especially exciting in civics, a senior-level course.

 

“Since these are seniors, I’m teaching less. I’m teaching what the Constitution is and all the functional stuff, but I also get to teach what it means to be a citizen. That’s especially cool to do with a bunch of seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds,” says Ryan.

 

He adds, “They’re more seasoned, they have more life experience, and they grasp the concepts a little better. Sometimes, we get slightly off-topic on material related to the course, but just not in a way I can plan. They learn more by asking their own questions and making their own journey through the material.”

 

As Ryan looks towards the future, he freely admits that he’s vowed to follow his wife in her medical journeys, come what may. But regardless of whether Ryan teaches at Meridian for a couple of seasons or decades, his first few weeks in the classroom have reaffirmed that he has found two passions—history and teaching.