***This article was written by Joey Drawyer, a participant in The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.
Numerous Wethersfield alumni have made the decision to return to their high school for work in previous years. This year, another teacher was added to the group. His name is Zachary Bush, and he joined Carl Anderson and Bart Frey in teaching math to Wethersfield’s high school students.
Bush is a 2013 graduate of Wethersfield. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated in 2017. Before coming back to Wethersfield for family, he lived in Minneapolis, Minn., for five years. In his time away from home, Bush worked as a club director, as a coach for the University of Minnesota, at a math software company and at the second-ever built Target in the United States. He participated in activism while in Minneapolis, something very important to him. This is his first time teaching, though.
Outside of teaching, Bush enjoys reading and writing poetry, cooking and painting. He tries to play as much volleyball as he can, with his favorite variation being grass volleyball.
Coming back to Wethersfield for work was Bush’s way to give back to the community that once served him. Bush says not much has changed at Wethersfield since he last attended. The school is very familiar to him, aside from new hallway additions and more technology. Math was the first subject Bush loved in school. He was inspired by his former teacher, Mr. Mann. Because of that, he teaches pre-algebra, algebra I and algebra II at WHS. He is involved in the WHS Climate and Culture Committee, and he coaches the school’s JV volleyball team.
So far, Bush has enjoyed his time as a teacher at Wethersfield. He says there have been highs and lows, “but the highs are much better than the lows.”
His favorite part about teaching has been seeing students start to enjoy math in his classes. His goals for the rest of the year include establishing a good base of curriculum to build upon in later years. Bush wants to increase his students’ understanding and enjoyment of math.
