The phrase superhero often brings to mind some kind of strong man or woman with supernatural abilities who saves people and fights crime. Jim McGory is not your typical superhero. Instead, he is helping the future by teaching students at New York State's Homer Senior High School. 

McGory has not always worked at Homer High School where the students he works with have learned to love him. 

When McGory was 19 years old, he started to coach sports and he fell in love with working with kids which helped him decide he wanted to be a teacher.

 “It was many years ago, it was 1990 I was 18, turning 19, and began coaching youth sports, youth football and I really enjoyed that,” McGory said. “At that time I was working a bunch of different jobs. I was working at a car dealership and working docks. But I started working with kids and decided that would be a really good pathway for me.”

Before McGory could be a teacher he had to go to college. He attended three different universities to obtain all the degrees that he needed to start teaching. 

“I went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. My major was elementary education with a specialty in literacy. I obtained that degree after four years. I attended the University of New England to get my masters, that was in general education,” McGory said. “And I attended the University of Rochester to obtain my administrative certification.”

McGory has worked in many schools since the beginning of his career, but started his student teaching career at a school called Blairsville in Pennsylvania. 

“My first semester I student taught in a kindergarten classroom,” McGory said. “If you have ever seen the old movie, Kindergarten Cop, I was like that big buffoon in the middle of the classroom. I had a great time.”

After that he was placed as a student teacher in a third grade classroom in Blairsville for a semester and a half, and then student taught in Marion Center, Pennsylvania, for his final years in college. 

McGory was then hired in his first teaching position at Wayne Freeman Finger Lakes BOCES as a teacher aid. 

“I was a teacher aid in a classroom for a 611 classroom. Our student population back then was students with emotional disabilities,” McGory said. “Within a few years I was promoted to teaching assistant, working in what was called a time out room. That's where when students were not behaving in a classroom, it was a place for them to come and we had to do intervention with them in regards of de-escalating them. Most of the time when they came to me they were really upset. So I was doing that work at the ripe old age of 21.” 

After he worked at BOCES, he worked at a few other schools teaching different grade levels before he moved to the elementary school. 

“Before I was principal of Homer Elementary School, I was at Boces for seven years, left to do my undergraduate and then was hired in the Canandaigua City School District as a fifth grade teacher,” McGory said. “I was 30 years old, so it took me a while to go to school. I then worked in Canandaigua as a fifth and sixth grade teacher for 12 years coaching football and girls varsity softball.”

After teaching at all these other schools, McGory went to Homer Elementary School and became the principal, moving into the administration side of a school. 

“I saw that I could make a bigger impact and see more kids in different ways and different lights than just in the classroom all day long.”

He was also influenced by his former superintendent, Steve Eubing, to get into administration. 

“The former superintendent of Canandaigua, Steve Eubing, a good friend of mine, tried to talk me into going to the administrative side of things 3 years before I decided to. It took me a while,” McGory said. “I still miss teaching. I've not been in the classroom teaching for 13 years, I've been an administrator now for 13, but he was a really good role model for me. He was also a professor at the University of Rochester where I ended up taking my coursework for administration.”

McGory has been in teaching and administration for 32 years. In that time, he has seen lots of change. 

“I’ve seen some changes, some for the good and some not for the good, but you always have to adapt. I’ve seen people talk ‘back when I was in school, things were different,’” McGory said. “I recently went to a funeral for a former coach and I saw my former vice principal, and I don't know if he knew the impact he had on me, so I told him and he started crying. But he also threw me in a coat closet and said ‘you're gonna stay there till you figure out how to behave.’ I was a senior that year, you know? But things are different, the approaches are different, the times are different.”

One of the biggest changes he has seen is the evolution of cell phones and how they have become a big part of everyone's day-to-day lives. He has also seen how they impact the school environment. McGory said that in his opinion, they are fine until they become a distraction. 

“As long as [phones] don’t become a distraction, and what we’ve seen is they do. I’m 54 and this thing doesn't leave my side. Social media, we’ve seen a rise in social media becoming a distraction,” McGory said. “If we are using it appropriately, using it for educational purposes, using it in your freetime, fine. There’s a lot of discussion, but it's when it becomes a distraction that it is bad.”

Now McGory works at Homer Senior High School as the vice principal. He moved there after seven years as the principal at Homer’s Elementary School. He decided he wanted to switch because he saw an opportunity, and took it. 

 “I was at the elementary school for seven years as the building principal and I saw an opportunity. I had worked with high school students for over 20 years. I had coached for 20 years  and I enjoyed high school as well,” McGory said. “So when the opportunity arose for me to make the move, it was an easy decision. A lot of times when working in a job, especially in a leadership role, change is good. And this ended up being a very positive change coming to the high school.”

Now at the high school, McGory has lots of opportunities to get involved working with the students. He says his favorite part of the job is being able to help out the students, and learning from them. 

“This is my 32nd year in education and I learn something new just about every day. It's mostly from kids and that has helped me become better at what I do,” McGory said. “You know people don't get into this work for the money, it doesn't pay great, right? We get into it because we enjoy working with kids. Here at the high school, I got to tell you there's memories made every day.”

Over the years, he has also volunteered to help as the girls soccer team photographer, been involved with the plays and musicals, and helped students Brielle Towers and Kaelynne Driscoll paint the mural on the wall in the lower lot. 

In high school, Mr. McGory was an artist, and helped to paint the stage sets for the productions. He found that he missed doing that, so when the opportunity arose through talking with those involved such as the students and Melissa Campos, he decided to help create sets at Homer. 

“You know I don't know if you realize or if you hear this but I talk to every kid, it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. I talk to everybody because I enjoy everybody and I saw an area of where I myself wanted to be back in,” McGory said. “I was asked last night about, you know, my work with the plays and in the musical, and I said I don't know if the kids get any joy from me being there but man do I get a lot of joy being around them. You know so I do enjoy being around all you kids.”

As the vice principal at the high school, McGory has also seen many senior pranks. 

“I wasn’t here when the animals were released. I mean the young men brought the jet ski into the main hallway, I was a little surprised by that, how they got that into the hallway, that was genius. But even last year they had those little figures everywhere, that was harmless, that was funny,” McGory said. “But the best one was, I got a call that the principal’s Jeep had been filled with balloons at his own home.”

Since McGory has worked in the education field for a long time, he has had time to think about what the next steps in his career are.

“At one time I aspired to be a superintendent. I’ve decided that’s a little too much for what I want. I’m good. I see this as where I will continue and end my career,” McGory said. “I enjoy it every day. If I stop enjoying it, that’s when I’ve got to go.”

He has also put some thought into retirement. 

 “I’ve thought about this cause I’m close, I'm eligible within a year and a half. I think I’ve still got a year in a half,” McGory said. “My dream is to spend more time and reconnect with my wife, because we’ve hustled and bustled for years. My dream job, I’ve owned a car detailer out of school for years, and I think I will continue to do that. It is therapeutic.”

McGory has helped many kids throughout his time as an educator and has helped to inspire and keep kids on the right path from all schools and backgrounds. His final advice for anyone thinking about going into the education system is to make connections. 

“First you’ve got to like kids. Secondly you’ve got to make connections. That’s important whatever you do whether it's with kids or with your life. I’ve learned that as a coach,” McGory said. “Once people trust you, they will run through walls for you. Make those connections with everyone.”