In case you haven’t already heard, a new Teacher of the Year was recently awarded to the beloved Mr. Stackhouse! If you haven’t had the pleasure of taking one of his classes, you should make that a goal. Not only are the classes he teaches interesting, his teaching makes them engaging and fun! Mr. Stackhouse is one of the most tenured teachers among our AMHS faculty, and is also the coach of both the boys and girls golf teams. You can find him hanging out in his classroom with Mr. Rush, or in the halls chatting with students—especially his golf protégés. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Stackhouse on his award, his teaching experience, and his opinions on our school. Please read below to get to know the wonderful Mr. Stackhouse!

How long have you been a teacher at AMHS?

This is my 25th year here.

What classes do you currently teach?

I teach AP Psych and Honors World History.

What has been your favorite class to teach so far?

I enjoy teaching the AP Psychology class

Why?

I didn’t think I would like it initially; I started teaching it maybe 7 years into my teaching career. I used to teach Honors US History—I don’t like US History. When the old teacher left, Mr. Hoffman said we should take the class over. I was kind of scared but now I like it more than I like World History!

I agree, AP Psych is in my top three classes I’ve taken. 

What were you awarded along with your T.O.Y. title?

They give you a parking spot.

That’s it? I thought they’d give you a gift card or something.

No, I got flowers, balloons, and a parking spot.

Do you like the T.O.Y parking spot?

Yes. I used to be an early guy, but now I don’t have to worry about parking. I like it because it’s right in front of the door, and now I can roll in here later without worrying about anyone taking my spot.

What is the best part about teaching/being a teacher?

Oh- definitely summers off.

Not enriching the minds of young people?!

I’ll tell you- I’m very lucky to get to  teach here. Meeting people who teach at other schools through being the golf coach gave me more insight into how bad it is at other schools. Over time I’ve realized that I’m super lucky to teach here. I teach kids that WANT to go to college, nobody likes school but they want to go to school to some degree and understand why they’re here. There’s no discipline problems here really.

After so long it feels normal— but when you think about it it’s definitely not normal. 

It’s not normal at all. I’ve coached with coaches from Porter Gaud and Bishop England, and the BE coach was the head of discipline, and he explained to me their system. They have demerits, and once they get to a point where they are going to kick you out.  He told me that there were real discipline problems there because it’s a private school and kids think they can do what they want. It’s not as bad as a regular high school, but they have some issues and we don’t even have that. That’s why I love teaching here. Another thing is the administration lets us teachers do what we need to do. And if it doesn’t work out we can always change gears and make it work. At the other high schools the classes are regulated by the state and teachers have to do class a certain way, even if it doesn’t work. One of the downers is people raising their hands to ask for the bathroom when I think they’re going to ask a question.

Do you have any funny teaching stories?

My first year as a teacher, Ms. Hurt was my mentor teacher! I was 25 years old, and now I’m 50. I did my student teaching in New York, and after it I called the hotline for Charleston County and there was an opening here. The lady on the phone whispered “Should we interview him?”, and I told her “I can hear you!” and she said that I wasn’t supposed to hear that. I don’t think they were going to interview me, but they did and I got the job. The last question they asked me—which I think is what got me the job—is if I would be the baseball coach.

So they were looking for a teacher AND a baseball coach, that just wasn’t in the description.

Yeah they don’t even do that anymore. We have about 25 teams in the school, and there are only 3 teachers in the school who coach. Coach Koll coaches volleyball, Ms. Hoofstetter coaches track, and I coach the golf teams. Mr. Rush used to coach baseball, Mr. Percy used to coach football and tennis. (edit: Ms. Beuk coaches boys volleyball)

No way! He coached tennis?

He was the tennis coach when we won the state championship! I don’t know if he played but he coached! Coaching is not a great job: it’s time consuming and not very well-paid. If I couldn’t play golf while I coached, I wouldn’t be a coach. I play with my guys during practice and during matches the other teams coach and I will play ahead of them. 

Make sure to congratulate Mr. Stackhouse if you see him!