Teacher Profile Series: New LRHS English teacher Zachary Swanger

Zachary Swanger knows a little something about the first day of school. He attended school here in the area. Directly after graduating high school, he attended college. This September will be the first time he has not attended school since his childhood, but his first-day streak will continue. Only now, his first day of school will be as a teacher.

"I can't wait," Swanger said. "It's a nervous excitement."

Swanger is a new English teacher at Lind-Ritzville High School. This school year will be his first as a full-time permanent teacher.

Swanger graduated from Eastern Washington University in December with a degree in secondary English education.

"[EWU] has a really great teaching program," Swanger said. "They really do. I really feel as prepared as I can be coming into this career because of their preparation program. They did a great job helping me get through the TPA [Teaching Performance Assessment], so I feel pretty confident going into the school year."

Swanger attended EWU after graduating from Sprague High School in 2013. He went into college suspecting that he was going to major in education. He says he also briefly considered journalism, but settled on education by his second quarter in Cheney.

What subject he wanted to teach, however, was still to be determined.

"It was going to be English or history, I couldn't figure out which one," Swanger said. "But I kind of got tracked into English a little bit more. I had already completed some AP English classes and only had to take one prereq class to get into the program. So it was an easy track. I was able to get a history minor too, so I'm endorsed in history as well."

Swanger's mother teaches high school, and her ability to reach her students inspired him to want to become a teacher.

"From a young age, I saw the impact she made on her students," Swanger said. "They would come back and visit her, all her seniors. They would come back and say hi and say how much she had done for them. I saw that difference that she makes, and I hope I can make that same difference as well."

After graduating from EWU, Swanger's strong ties to this community made coming to Ritzville an easy decision for him.

"I'm originally from the community," Swanger said. "My wife is from here, she went to high school here. I went to high school in Sprague. When the [athletic] co-ops merged in 2010, that's how we met. We started dating our sophomore year. We got married in this town ... We know a lot of people in this community. It's a great community, I really like it."

Swanger knew right away that he wanted to teach high school students rather than younger children.

"I didn't try elementary at all. I didn't feel that would be a great fit for me," Swanger siad. "I enjoy what I teach as well. I enjoy the literature. You can't really dive in and have deep conversations with elementary students. That's what I'm hoping to be able to do with the high schoolers. And I hope to get to know them through those deep conversations."

While Swanger does have some middle school experience, he still feels that high school is the best fit.

"I student taught at Bowdish Middle School, which is in Central Valley," Swanger said. "I taught 8th grade. So I was a little more familiar with middle school, but I think high school will be an easy adjustment."

Swanger says he is excited to introduce some literature to his students right from the start.

"We're going to start off with some fiction," Swanger siad. "I've got some short stories planned for the sophomores. They are going to read some classic short stories. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a nice little short story to start off with. We'll do a little work with Steinbeck as well. I'll also teach the history a little too behind the era Steinbeck was writing in."

Reading won't be the only focus, however.

"We're going to do a lot of argumentative writing. I really want to switch the focus to writing a little bit this year too. I want to make sure we are combining a lot of writing in with the reading," Swanger said. "It's college and career readiness. Whatever these kids are going to go in to, they are going to need to be able to write. Whether that's writing resumes and cover letters, or writing for college, we need to prepare them for the world. And a lot of people struggle to write these days."

Swanger said he's been hard at work getting ready for the school year, but that he's very excited about yet another first day of school.

"There's a lot more preparation that goes into the first day as a teacher than there is the first day as a student," Swanger said.

So what's his favorite thing about the first day of school?

"Getting to meet the kids," Swanger answered. "They are definitely a little more energetic and rambunctious. Everyone comes in with a little 'fresh new start' kind of feel. So that's what I'm most excited about."