Teachers. As students, we see them every day. They provide us with the education that leads us into our lives.

Yet, who are these people who teach our youth? And why do they?

While you may not think that teachers are of the utmost importance, neither you nor I would have the knowledge we do today without their help.

These educators have dedicated much of their lives to helping society. They bring knowledge to our nation and the world.

Many also sponsor clubs, coach athletic teams and enjoy helping their students achieve excellence, going above and beyond simply teaching the curriculum.

The teaching staff here at A.J. Dimond High is full of talented and caring people who just want to share their love of learning.

Jeffrey Bevier, a freshmen and sophomore history teacher, has been teaching for 17 years.

“I wandered a bit before I became a teacher. [I did] everything from travel, to working for UPS, to being mean and working in retail. I always wanted to be either a police officer or a teacher. Those were like goals when I was a kid. Or a center fielder and I couldn’t hit and being a police officer looked really stressful. I really liked history, and the only time you can really use history is being a teacher,” said Bevier.

He seems to genuinely like teaching students and seeing them improve.

“I love it when kids make connections. It makes me feel like I’m doing my job. I really  enjoy the fact when you see somebody making big leaps, when you inspire somebody. It doesn’t happen all that often mind you, but I just love that in class when somebody gets it. Those are fun moments,” said Bevier.

Marcus Reese, who teaches sophomore Honors English II and technical writing, has been teaching for 15 years.

“Prior to teaching I was a counselor working with high school students in Western Alaska. Simply put, I wanted to do something that mattered. I wanted to be in a career that was one of contribution,” said Reese.

He studied literature in college, but as the level of literature and analysis increased, it became “obscure.”

“I kinda just felt like the academics seemed so narrow. At about the midway point of my college experience, when I was really getting into literature, I was also starting to take some education courses. That was the opposite because instead of going to a small audience, I was going to all high school students. That to me just seemed much more meaningful,” said Reese.

Reese has always taught high school and specifically enjoys teaching sophomores.

“I just think high school is a profound time. For me that sophomore year is a cool year. I think a lot happens cognitively, developmentally, socially, academically. High school to me is a time where you’re just really thinking about a lot of stuff and asking a lot of questions. I think literature is perfect for questions,” said Reese.

Another teacher, Lea Bouton, attended Dimond as student and is an engineering and chemistry teacher in her sixth year of teaching.

She had an interesting career before switching to teaching.

“Before teaching, I was a nuclear engineer. I was a naval officer and then I became a nuclear engineer in the Navy,” said Bouton.

Bouton switched to teaching because she could not be a the parent she wanted to be in the Navy, but that was not the only reason.

“I always wanted to teach chemistry so that was always a high school thing. I like that I get to be excited about my job and hopefully that comes through. For the most part I really like my special snowflakes.”

“I liked what I did in the Navy, but I do really like teaching. I was really lucky when I went to Dimond because we had really amazing teachers. Looking back, I had a really great high school experience and a lot of that was because of my teachers. I kind of hope that I make somebody’s high school experience better,” said Bouton.

Kathleen Navarre is a coach and math teacher at Dimond and has been a part of the learning community for 23 years.

“In first grade, I knew I wanted to become a teacher,” Navarre said.

With a double major in math and physical education, Navarre keeps herself involved and busy within Dimond.

“I teach Algebra II and Algebra A. I have taught geometry as well. I coach flag football and track and then run volleyball, wrestling and basketball tournaments,” said Navarre.

She continued saying, “I enjoy not just teaching math, but being able to integrate life lessons in it. I love teachable moments whether it’s getting off task or what, but I love teachable moments where you can also teach real life lessons within a math lesson that they can take out into the real world.”

“I also enjoy helping kids, and seeing growth, seeing success and that’s with coaching and also in the math class. I enjoy helping kids not only in math, but in all aspects of their lives.”

It is obvious that all of these teachers are dedicated and involved in teaching the students of A.J. Dimond High. They truly love their jobs and everything that comes with them.