Passionate but critical, teacher and friend, Dr. Jermy O’Brien is a teacher who loves his job and makes sure his students are nothing but extraordinary. He is critical of his students but always makes sure that they understand the why behind what they are doing incorrectly. He has a friendly demeanor but keeps his boundaries between teacher and student friendships. His job is to teach students, and the student’s job is to learn. After the lesson is over, he can be like a friend.

“That's always a good feeling and a good memory to see what they’ve done and how they’ve been able to succeed,"  Dr. O’Brien said.

During the 80s, school classes were more formal and the number of elective classes was very limited. Dr. O’Brien recalls that only core classes were available, with very few options for electives such as art, band, choir, drama, or foreign language classes. If a student failed a course during that time, they had to repeat the course entirely, as there was no such thing as credit recovery when Dr. O’Brien was in school. 

“I would say it was much more regimented," Dr. O’Brien said. That's probably the easiest way of describing it. There weren't as many options for classes, coursework was aligned pretty strictly to your math class, your English class, your history class, you didn't have as many choices or opportunities as we have now. We have some programs that are similar to like SBE, where, if you took certain classes you could then go to work for portions of the day if you learned you know enough credits from your high school career, much like we have now."

The times have changed from the ‘90s to the 2000s, and so have the classes, school rules, and curriculum. When Dr. O'Brien was a young teacher, everything was old school. If students needed the internet for research, they would have to go to a computer lab. After many years of using textbooks and paper tests, students were introduced to personal laptops in 2011.

“If you talk to teachers that are veterans that have been around a long time they have things that they really enjoy or they like to teach," Dr. O’Brien said.  "The manipulation of those things to make it more modern, you know, and kind of roll with the times of whether it's tech or other things you could bring into your lessons that come from outside sources."

Teaching has undergone significant changes, and opinions vary about whether it has become easier or harder. Dr. O'Brien acknowledges that there are both positive and negative aspects, but he advises finding a happy medium. If he ever found himself unhappy or dreading his job, he would quit. He believes that if he were in that state of mind, he wouldn't be able to give his students his best efforts to benefit them the most.

“I would quit," Dr. O’Brien said. “I've always had that mindset that if it wasn't something that I didn't want to do or if I didn't get excited to do the things that I do that night, I can do other stuff. So I don't have to do this job."

Sergeant of the military to sergeant of the classroom, Dr. Gary Smith has the keen sense of teaching others that has stuck with him since he joined the Air Force. With his mass of diplomas behind him, Dr. Smith has taught at Boeing Airplane and Transport Corporation, Webster University, and now high school students at SGHS. 

“ … They had below the zone. You could test when you're a couple years in to see if you qualify or can pass their tests but I did, first time, and I got what they call below the zone, so I became a sergeant a little bit into my third year of my four year term,” Dr. Smith said.

But it took time, effort, and money to get to where Dr. Smith is today. While he was in the Air Force he decided that he wanted to learn just more because of his “curiosity of knowing things,’’ Dr. Smith said.

“I started college at the University of Maryland in England, the United Kingdom. I was doing it way back in the day, what they called remote, and now they call it online. And I progressed from there. Once I got out, I went to a community college and started using my veterans benefits and I got an Associate’s degree then got my first Bachelor’s degree, then I went on to get a Master's degree and came to Missouri from Michigan, where I was working for Ford, and pursued my Doctorate’s degree and PhD.”

“Teaching at Boeing and at Webster University, then I decided to think about going into high school so I had to go back for yet another Bachelor's degree where I got a Bachelor's degree in Business Education for Secondary Business, which is high school business, and then I decided to get a Masters in Education Administration. So I might be able to be an administrator one of these days,” Dr. Smith said.

Dr. Smith has brought his impressive college path to an all time aww. He has an Associate of Art in Psychology, Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Bachelor of Science Education, Master of Science in Management, Master of Educational Administration, Doctor of Management, and a PhD. But how does this astonishing record work with his teaching career now?

“I think one of the first things my military background did was expose me or introduced me to a huge breadth of different types of people from our country," Dr. Smith said. "Growing up in a small town, I wasn’t as culturally diverse as I was when I joined the Air Force and I met a bunch of different people from different cultures and walks of life  from this country. Then I was fortunate enough to be stationed overseas. I traveled on what was called ‘ Temporary Duty’ or  ‘TDY’ Internationally.”

“So one of the big things the military did for me, that carries over into education, is a multilateral kind of multicultural exposure, and experience, Dr. Smith said.  “I don’t consider myself to be ethnocentric in any way whatsoever. I treat everybody from a level place and appreciate and love everybody. I think it really helps with being fair and honest with the kids and trying to meet them at their level or where they’re coming from.”