Meet the Teacher: Longtime Teacher Uses Humor in Lasting Lessons for Michigan Center Students

MICHIGAN CENTER, MI – It only took him 18 years, but Anthony Howard finally made it to sixth grade in 2023.

Howard, 44, has taught science to elementary school students for nearly two decades, most of those years spent with sixth graders at Keicher Elementary School in Michigan Center.

Now a seventh-grade science teacher at Michigan Center High School, Howard said he lives for the moments when former students come back to visit and chat about where their lives are taking them.

Howard, a self-described “Center Rat,” attended Michigan Center schools from kindergarten until his high school graduation in 1998.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University in 2003, Howard first taught at the now-closed Jackson Arts and Technology Academy charter school. Although he aspired to teach writing to elementary school students, Howard took the science position in sixth grade, primarily as a favor to his director at JATA.

Howard quickly came to love upper elementary education, finding the students were just the right age to engage in higher-level conversations while still understanding his father’s constant jokes.

Howard returned to Michigan Center in 2006. Outside of the classroom, Howard also coached junior high basketball and football for many years.

Howard sat down with MLive/Jackson Citizen Patriot to talk about the lessons he’s learned and passed on during his two decades in the classroom.

Jackson patriotic citizen: Was there a specific moment or experience that inspired you to get into the education field?

Anthony Howard: There was a moment that I remember during my sophomore year where we started talking about the (Jackson Area) Career Center, and I thought, “Maybe I want to do graphic design,” because That’s what interested me at the time. . When they were handing out the registration papers, something in my mind – whatever it was – said, “You can’t come to the Career Center, because you’re going to be a teacher.” » The vocation was on my mind, and I didn’t do Career Center because I had to take two years of foreign language – without these two years of foreign language, I couldn’t get into a Western school or any other school to be able to obtain my teaching diploma.

This specific moment happened when I was in second grade, but I think it was all a relative feeling of “I love being in this place.” My life revolved around (school), and it was something I wanted to be a part of and try to pass on to my future students.

JCP: Why is teaching in the field you are in such a calling for you?

Howard: Here’s the thing: I didn’t want to teach science, I wanted to teach writing. I love writing, I love expression and everything that goes with writing. Science was work. A long time ago (I started at the Center), I interviewed for several different writing positions and had already accepted a job at Marshall. The next day, I got a call from (former Michigan Center superintendent) David Tebo, who told me a science position was open. I said, “Man, I just took a job here and I’m trying to figure it out,” and (Tebo) gave me the old salesman pitch that Center was my hometown and I was back in the community, so I took this job. because it was a job that was on offer and open at the time. Over time it evolved and I now love science. Is this my favorite subject? No, I always tell kids that it’s not my favorite subject, but I enjoy it because I’ve written a lot about it. One of my goals is to get children to write like a scientist, which includes the vocabulary aspect. So I took my first passion – which was writing – and incorporated it into many of the experiments and articles that we do. I’m still writing a bit, it’s just focused on science.

JCP: What is your favorite aspect of your job?

Howard: Without a doubt, it has to be the children I see every day and the people I work with. The kids are the number one reason I’m still here. It’s seeing the kids’ faces every day and seeing them greet me. I teach science, but relationships are everything to me. This is what keeps me coming back every day.

JCP: The field of education has changed and evolved in many ways as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (remote learning is more prevalent, some students have struggled with learning loss, etc.) – in what ways, if at all, have you changed or evolved as a teacher over the past few years?

Howard: On the one hand, I appreciate not being in this period anymore. It was very hard at the time because everyone was distanced. How are you going to teach science by just showing a video every day without having that practical aspect? Outside of COVID, it made me appreciate everything we have now in this science class. In my classes, the use of technology has increased significantly. I use Google Classroom every day now. Homework isn’t posted there every day like during COVID – now I use it as a bulletin board, so kids who are missing can go in and see what we did in class that day . (COVID) made me better technologically, because at the time it wasn’t very high on the scale.

JCP: Is there a specific moment in your career that you consider to be the most rewarding?

Howard: I don’t know if I’m still there! I don’t think it will be much of a reward. I don’t remember who said it, but I remember it being said early in my career that children usually won’t remember your lessons, but you. It’s engraved in my heart. The kids coming back and talking to me about life is what I enjoy – I love that aspect of the job.

A buddy of mine was going to get a phone in Battle Creek, and he was talking with the guy (who was selling the phone) and they talked about where they were from and stuff, and they asked about the Michigan Center and my name came. up. The (salesman) said “Mr. Howard, he made such an impression on me – he believed in me and I remember talking to him every day.” I received this comment from my boyfriend – and they didn’t have the guy’s name, so I had no idea who it was. It’s these little moments. I know some of these lessons will go out the window sometimes, but I know I can talk to students about life. When they feel confident and come back and talk to me and tell me I made a difference, that’s all the reward I need. That’s why I’m still here.

If you know of a K-12 educator in Jackson or Washtenaw counties who might be a good subject for the weekly “Meet the Teacher” series, send an email with their contact information to [email protected].

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