Teacher Appreciation Week: Mr. Mac

Every school has a teacher that stands out, and Mr. Mac is just that. Whether he is teaching sophomore English, creative writing, Senior English or Modern Literature, he makes the classes stand out with his creativity. Besides teaching, he helps run scholastic bowl, tech club, and in the past book club. He also founded the gaming club, while spending 15 years on the school play. His personality is what helps keep the class alive with his love for royal blue, his favorite book

Frankenstein, his favorite snack coffee, and even his go to pens: INC R2 in black. I chose him as my feature because he has been my teacher since sophomore year and I never feel bored in his class. He helps keep us entertained while teaching us at the same time. 

To learn more about Mr. Mac, stay for our sit-down interview. 

How long have you been teaching? When and why did you decide to become a teacher?

Mr. Mac: 21 years. I have a lot of fond memories of a lot of really good English teachers I had in high school and college, that just kind of made it come alive to me. I loved to read. I loved to write, and it was this natural progression.

Mrs. Mac honestly, not just making it up. I think she’s a fantastic teacher and a very kind and patient person, she puts up with me.

What’s your favorite unit/lesson to teach? Walk us through what it looks like + why you like it so much!

Mr. Mac: I mentioned Hamlet, specifically I like a lot of the stuff with the ghost. Also just acting it out in general. I think it can sometimes lead to some fun experiences. I like finding props and costumes for the appropriate character. I like to keep track and make sure everybody gets a chance to read, whether they like it or not. I try to make the message and dialogue clear, because sometimes it can be a little challenging.

What’s your favorite memory from teaching so far?

Mr. Mac: My very first year teaching was when Myspace was big, and I had an eighth-grade class and one day, Myspace came up and I mentioned I had one and when I got home, I had twelve friend requests. That was the day I killed my account, which I found pretty funny.

What’s something you wish your students knew?

Mr. Mac: I wish they knew, honestly, that cheating or cutting corners on a project, while it may get the project done, and it definitely may get you a great grade, you really legitimately are just cheating yourself. Not being able to think for yourself is doing yourself a disservice, and hurting yourself and that, you know, one of my favorite phrases is, you have two choices, education and ignorance, and you get to choose which one you want to do, and by Chat GPT, something, you’re choosing ignorance, there’s no other way to put it, really.”

What were you like as a student? Has much of that changed since?

Mr. Mac: I was kind of the class clown. Every report card I got from the time I was in grade school until I graduated, they would mention that I didn’t apply myself for use of my sufficient potential. I graduated number 82 out of 384. So, I was in the top third, but I was never as serious about it as I would be now…

I think I’m definitely more serious and I have more initiative now. I certainly don’t procrastinate. If I had a project that would be due in a month, I would do it the day it was assigned. That was not always the case, certainly not in college. I’m probably more tolerant and accepting of people and their different learning styles and their different ability levels.

Finish this statement: If I wasn’t a teacher, I …

Mr. Mac: If I wasn’t a teacher, I would probably be a bestselling novelist or a comic book artist.

What are you like outside of school? What do you spend your time doing?

Mr. Mac: I’m definitely more of a homebody like spring break this year I didn’t leave the house. I left the house on that Monday but then didn’t leave it again until school got back out. Lately I’ve been playing a lot of video games, which I’ve never been a video gamer, but now I discovered how great they are. I’m also probably not as positive all the time, like optimistic and cheerful.

What’s a moment in your teaching career that really changed the way you teach?

Mr. Mac: One of the big ones that happens regularly is, I will stop when we’re talking about something, reading something, and ask if people know what a certain word means, or a phrase means, and I’m always very surprised that they don’t. And so, it kind of reminds me to make it apply to as many people as possible, and to kind of help people along, I guess, so to speak. I think also, something that has really happened a lot, many times over the years, is, I will have students, like, as sophomores that are very immature or very irresponsible, and I will see that later, as seniors, they become, uh, much more so. And so, I kind of like the, uh, I like watching that metamorphosis, watching that change happen, but I think it also is, I think it’s really important, one thing I really like to do is, I treat my students the exact same way I would treat. any other adult. If a 25-year-old walks in the room, I treat them the same way I treat my 15-year-olds. And as a result, I get really frustrated when the 15-year-olds tend to act like 12-year-olds sometimes, which happens.

What’s something students do that always makes your day better?

Mr. Mac: Volunteering and discussing is obvious. But I always really like it when I see them being kind to one another, respectful of one another. And just kind of, just kind of positive, being glad to be here. Which isn’t always easy.”

What advice would you give your high school self now?

Mr. Mac: Well, become a banker or buy crypto coins. Yeah, like I said, I was never a bad student or a bad kid. I didn’t like cause trouble or anything, but I think I would kind of, I think I would kind of point out to myself that, like, you know, frankly, high school’s kind of easy, and, like, you should, I would tell myself that, you know, you should be a 4.0 student. I also would tell myself to go to a public college instead of a private college, so that I didn’t… spend the rest of my adulthood paying off their loans. You know, I would say, I guess, especially right around when I was in high school, I started losing relatives, like my great grandma and my grandparents and stuff like that. And so I think I would really stress, you know, to spend quality time with those people and just really listen to them, get stories from them, recipes, advice. My grandpa was one that could fix anything in the world, and I kind of wish I had just, like, spent all my time next to him, learning how to fix everything, you know? So, yeah, just spend time with the people that matter, because they won’t always be there.”

Mr. Mac is the kind of teacher that makes an impact, not just through teaching but through the way he treats his students. He genuinely cares for all his students and for what he teaches. From acting out Shakespeare to starting clubs that bring people together, he has shaped Dee-Mack for good. 

Thank you, Mr. Mac, for everything you have done and the patience you have shown. Dee-Mack is better because of you.