***This article was written by Chase Palm, a participant in The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.
“We can’t understand today if we don’t understand yesterday,” said Kewanee High School alumni and latest addition to the faculty, Willie Terry III.
After graduating with the KHS Class of 2019, Terry studied at Illinois College in Jacksonville, where he received a degree in history and secondary education.
Even before he was finished with student teaching, Terry decided to return to Boiler Country to teach U.S. History. He returned in January, and is now sharing how he’s been able to connect with teachers that taught him in school on a more personal and professional level.
Terry spoke highly of the fact that the teachers are so willing to help and to make sure that he understands what he’s doing, but he admits that referring to his former teachers by their first names hasn’t been easy.
“At first, it’s been an adjustment. I’m always somebody who always sticks with ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ or ‘Coach.’ I can’t get away from the first name basis especially when I was taught by them,” Terry said.
That shift in perspective hasn’t stopped Terry from accepting help from other teachers and coming up with goals for the current semester. Terry’s main objective for this semester is to improve his students’ writing skills, which he believes matters regardless of a person’s eventual career path.
“No matter what you want to do in your life, you’re going to have to be able to write,” Terry said.
To Terry, the job isn’t just about teaching his subject matter. He also plans to focus on teaching students essential skills they can use throughout their lives.
Being involved in extracurricular activities in high school was another thing that profoundly shaped Terry and informs his approach to teaching today. Terry participated in various KHS activities including football, choir and musical, which he referred to as “wearing many hats.” Because he “wore many hats” during his high school career, Terry feels he can better relate to students.
“That’s been the biggest thing that I’ve kind of explained to students: I have this unique experience from high school, so I can connect with these students in different ways. No matter what a student is involved in, I can find a way to connect with them,” Terry said.
In addition to encouraging KHS students to cast their net wide and open themselves to new experiences, Terry hopes to establish himself as a resource for all students, whether they attend his classes or not.
“My primary goal honestly is getting my feet set squared in the building, and what I mean by that is I want to build relationships outside of just the junior class. I want the freshmen and sophomores to know about me and to make that good connection early, so once they’re in my class, I’m a familiar face. I want to be someone who they feel like they can trust and that we can hit the ground running once we start,” Terry said.
Lastly, Terry aims to expand the minority representation at Kewanee High School, a crucial aspect of teaching that Terry recognizes is lacking across the board locally and nationally.
“With the racial demographics that are at the school, students need some minority leaders that they can look up to and connect to. And I felt like that was missing when I was there, so now it’s kind of me trying to repay that gap, so to speak, and give that experience to our students,” he said.
