Collier started teaching in 2001 and has been been a teacher at BHS since January 2022. He started teaching journalism in North Carolina in 2016 when he revived the program at Forest Hills High School after a 10 year hiatus. He has now introduced the journalism program at Buford High School and hopes it will grow in popularity with the student body and within the community.

In fall of 2020, Collier returned back to the classroom after being diagnosed with cancer in February of 2019 and receiving a bone marrow transplant in June of 2019. He is excited about all he has learned to appreciate and eager to share his journey with others. This column will be one place you can read about his experiences.

check engine light

1/23/23

My first car was a dingy white 1979 Honda Civic, and to me at the age of 16, it couldn’t have been a more beautiful piece of machinery. With a rebuilt motor that roared a whopping 60 horsepower and stretched every one of my hard earned dollars to 50 mpg, I coasted from place to place at a governor set top speed of 55 mph before the whole vehicle would begin to vibrate violently.

Love, like ice cream

12/9/22

Each Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of a time from my past when I made the two and a half hour trip from Monroe to Etowah to visit with my mom.

My mother had invited others over from the community who either had no one coming to visit or did not have a place to go, including her neighbor Dorothy, who, at the time, was an 86 year old widow.

being frank

11/15/22

When I graduated college in December of 2000, I did not go right into a classroom, well, not a traditional one. I took a job working for YMCA Camp Thunderbird's Environmental Education Camp. I had worked several summers there as a counselor, but this was a different gig. Little did I know that my fresh teaching degree meant nothing when I met Frank. Below I am sharing something I wrote in 2008, when even after nearly a decade of 'teaching,' I still hadn't been able to teach a lesson they way he taught me. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Voting doesn't matter, you do

10/21/22

Election Day is quickly approaching, so I thought I would share my thoughts from the last time I voted. Some food for thought for when you are standing in line at the polls (if you're old enough), or if you just want a positive change.

I voted. Did you? I saw so many posts on social media showcasing the “I Voted” sticker or pen accompanied by, “I did my part!”

We all have a story; what's yourS?

9/30/22

In January of 2020, I gave a speech before the men's basketball game at Forest Hills High School as part of a fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society put on by the National English Honors Society. Since then, my story has had a few alternates, but the message is still the same. Here is a reprise of my message:

Manual labor

9/23/22

A common expression among professional photographers is, “Everyone is a photographer until you turn the dial from AUTO to MANUAL.” Why wouldn’t one be a great photographer after spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a camera with the latest technological advancements in capturing images and only having to “point and shoot”?

Complaining will get you everywhere

9/16/22

Sometimes I just get so sick and tired of things that happen to me: getting cut off in traffic, spilling my coffee all over my clothes, forgetting a task on my to-do list, getting cancer, living during a pandemic. Complaining has gotten me everywhere; everywhere except where I want to be.

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