By David Soberanes-Rivera
A few weeks before the first 9-weeks ended, news broke of Michael Doughty leaving campus to pursue a new job elsewhere, and with it came speculations regarding who would take his spot as the Philosophy and English instructor. Mr. Doughty left his students with a bang, and the sudden change was sure to throw these students for a loop, right?
Former Shreve student body president and standout student Javin Bowman was brought in to be Doughty’s replacement.
“He is an extremely friendly teacher who makes you feel comfortable answering some of philosophy’s toughest questions and almost feels like an older brother, while still maintaining control of his class and not letting students run over him,” said Abdel Zeidan, one of JB’s (Javin Bowman) philosophy students. It does seem like he’s been settling well with the philosophy crowd.
“He’s cool, his class is easy and fun, and we get things done, all wins in my book,” said Mariah Smith, one of JB’s English students.
In an individual interview with JB, he was asked whether he was informed ahead of time that he’d be in charge of two types of classes he said, “I didn’t at first. The opportunity presented itself in the middle of September, and most the time I’ve subbed has mostly been at Shreve. They asked me and I said sure!”
JB is more than qualified to teach his philosophy students because, during his time at LSU, he pursued philosophy making him a great suit for the job.
“I had taken philosophy when I went here to Captain Shreve, and then I had taken a lot of theory in philosophy courses in college,” said JB.
With that experience, he not only has the basic knowledge of suitable for high school philosophy, but he can expand to more advanced topics.
What makes JB a great teacher is not only that he’s very passionate about teaching, but being close in age to his students helps him communicate in ways other teachers — who have larger age gaps in comparison — cannot. For example, he can give advice on topics — school related or not — and students can come out with an adult’s perspective of the matter.
Previously, JB worked as a substitute on campus, but as the opportunity presented, he began thinking of teaching full time, and finally settling down with one class. When asked if he saw this group of students as his “trial run” for any future classes, he agreed that these students would be close to his heart since this has truly been his own class.
Though he’s given a curriculum by the state, JB has his own agenda when teaching his students. As a teacher, he hopes to teach both Philosophy and English III respectively, and he hopes that his students’ communication skills improve as a result of group correlation.
JB is a great new addition to The Swamp, and as he and his students continue to work together, they can expect to come out of this year having experienced — and learned — all of the essential things needed for next year.