Teacher Profile Series: New LRHS teacher Bryce Court

The Journal's teacher profile series has spoken to several teachers who came to east Adams County from a larger area in seek of a smaller community to call home. The opposite can be said for new Lind-Ritzville High School social studies teacher Bryce Court.

"My last town didn't have any fast food restaurants," Court said smiling.

Court grew up in Winthrop, Washington, which has a population of 394. He experienced larger cities in college before beginning his teaching career in St. Paul, Oregon, (population 421). He then went on to teach in Garden Valley, Idaho, (population 395).

Court says he has always liked small towns, but his wife is from Oregon City (population 31,859).

"I had to convince my wife to move away from the cities," Court said. "So my first job I had, in St. Paul, was pretty close to Portland. It was about an hour away. Then after six years there, I convinced her to go to Garden Valley, which is about an hour away from Boise."

Court says his upbringing in Winthrop was a positive one. He attended Liberty Bell High School, a school located between Withrop and Twisp, which serves both towns.

After graduating high school, Court attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, where he majored in history.

While earning his degree at Lindfield, he decided he wanted to be a history professor, so he earned a master's in history at Washington State University. Then, he had a change of heart.

"I got halfway through [the WSU master's] program and I discovered there was stuff I didn't like about college," Court said. "So, I kind of wanted to see what high school was like."

However, while a master's in history allows one to teach history in college, it does not allow one to teach in high school.

"In order to teach high school, I needed to get a teaching degree," Court said.

So back to school he went.

"I got my teaching at the University of Portland," Court said. "It was my second master's degree, so you could say I'm over educated for my job ... But here I am, 17 years later, I love teaching high school."

Court kept his most recent job, at Garden Valley, for 10 years. Then, after 16 years of working in tiny towns, he said he and his wife decided a slightly bigger city would be better for their children, so they started looking to move.

"Basically, I just started looking for jobs," Court said. "I wanted something bigger ... This is the biggest school I've ever taught at, it's about twice as big as my past schools."

Court says teaching at a slightly larger school has its advantages.

"I used to teach six different classes a day," Court said. "It was pretty difficult keeping up. Now, I teach fewer classes, but I get to teach them multiple times a day. This is the size I was looking for."

Court also says the city offers more than what he's used to.

"In my last town, there was one place to eat," Court said. "You guys [in Ritzville] have it made, you have a bowling alley and a movie theater. I'm not used to that stuff."

Despite the change that a new city brings, even a "big" one like Ritzville, Court said everything seemed familiar when he got into the classroom.

"I'm learning that kids are kids," Court said. "Kids are the same everywhere. Yeah Ritzville is big to me, but it's not big to the kids. And there's a whole wide world out there. I say this to all my kids: 'You should see the world, don't be stuck where you are at. Not that Ritzville, or anywhere, is bad. But you should go out, and if you don't like what you see, you can always come back."

Court said he's encouraging his own children (a son who is a senior and a daughter who is a sophomore) to go to college away from home to experience something new as well.

In addition to teaching, Court has coached sports during all of his stops. At Ritzville, he is an assistant coach for Greg Whitmore on the football team. But don't call him a football coach.

"I'm a basketball coach," Court said. "I'm going to say I'm a football coach because they hired me to coach football. Mr. Whitmore was kind enough to give me this opportunity. I am probably learning as much as the kids are. I would never claim to be a football coach. Although, I'd say Whitmore is a pretty good teacher so I'm on my way."

Coaching is another reason Court is glad he chose to teach high school.

"I know that had I been a college professor, I would never have been able to coach the sports I have been able to coach," Court said. "I think coaching has created a situation where I am able to meet kids at a different level than I do in the classroom."

While Court has no regrets not being a college professor, it turns out that past goal is actually going to come true now, sort of. Court is one of LRHS's first teachers to participate in the College in High School program through Eastern Washington University. This means he acts as an adjunct instructor for EWU in some of his classes at LRHS. Students in such classes can earn high school and college credits at the same time.

Currently, only his U.S. History class qualifies as a college course, though he hopes to add more classes soon. He's also qualified to teach college level world history. This year, 13 students are enrolled in his college level class.

Court said he likes teaching social studies because it forces students to think for themselves. He hopes his classes help his students stay open minded in life.

"In social studies, we're supposed to think about things a little different," Court said. "I'd like to think that I bring a different thinking philosophy than the other subjects. I'm not saying better, I'm saying different. When you look at the world around you, are you able to dissect that information from a history standpoint? From a social standpoint? I'd like to think that I'm helping kids understand that there's at least two sides to every story."