Teaching is a fulfilling but oftentimes difficult career, but can have an impact on the future leaders of our society. From arriving early in the morning to leaving late at night, there are many obstacles teachers are willing to go through to teach the next generation. For one teacher and Kalāheo alumnus and Kailua High teacher, Tim Harrison, there is a greater barrier that must be defied to get to his classroom. While it is the love of the students that Harrison shares with his colleagues, there is one major thing that differentiates him from the rest. Harrison does not live on Oahu but on the Big Island. Starting in law and coaching basketball, Harrison, who has been teaching for 23 years, shared the reason that keeps him on flights week after week.
“When you teach, one of the things that, and I've talked with other educators, that is so good about it is you get to see young people grow. You get to see them when they come in as freshmen and you get to see them leave. And 99 percent of the time there's this tremendous growth in that individual, and that's what gets me psyched about teaching. I like to see them grow as a person, knowing that they're going to go out there and probably succeed at something. Growth is a big thing to me. Not just as a student, but as a person,” he explained.
Starting out in the legal field as a paralegal, Harrison had a change of heart. “After almost 20 years, I was coaching at the time and I'd been coaching at Kalaheo. But I started thinking about getting into something else and it just so happened to be teaching,” he explained.
Despite recognizing the need for teachers in this day and age— many are quick to criticize the pay and lack of appreciation that they face. However, Harrison, who wants to see more young teachers break into the workforce, tells a different story. “I'd like to see more people here get into teaching because it is becoming rather lucrative. At one time in the past, teachers didn't make much, but to me, we only work nine months a year.”
“And with long breaks in between, today teachers are starting in the high $50,000 range, which is pretty good. And after about 20 years, kids that start today right out of college should be at least making six-figure incomes coming out of teaching,” he explained.
For students trying to decide what career path is best to take, Harrison made it clear that it is best to stick with a job that you love. “The thing that I've always tried to do is want to be where I'm at. I want to get up and go to work. I don't want to just show up and do a job. You'll have jobs like that when you're young. You're just trying to make money, right? You have to work with people that you may not exactly appreciate,” he explained.
“But when you start to think about a career, you've got to start finding something that you enjoy doing. I think that's the key. I didn't go into teaching for the money, believe me.”