Who are you? What do you teach? “I am Mr. Hollingsworth and I teach band.” When did you want to become a teacher? “It was about my sophomore year of high school and I was already doing lessons and I thought it was cool watching people become musicians.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “I have lived in Augusta for a while and now my daughter goes to school at Robinson I wanted to get a job in the same area.” What do you like about co-directing the Marching Orioles? “ I like that it is different every day and that since music is always changing you kinda just have to go with it and it’s a fun experience.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “That you will never have everything figured out and I don’t have to be perfect to be a good teacher.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “That you will never have everything figured out and I don’t have to be perfect to be a good teacher.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “Coach petty and I teach world history and American history” When did you want to become a teacher? “I wanted to become a teacher and coach when I was young because my mom was a teacher and my dad was a minister and I kinda knew then” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “Augusta is a really nice place, and when I saw there was an opening I thought it would be a really great place to work at.” What do you like about (teaching subject here) “Especially with history you can relate it with things especially, with election year it is really fun to tie those things in.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “It’s very important to know your students and let them know you care about them and want to give them the best opportunities to succeed in life.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “ Just to get to know what they like in and out of school and make sure I can relate with them to understand what they are going through.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “Brad Raine, world history, current events, and world geography.” When did you want to become a teacher? “My junior year in high school, I had an amazing teacher who inspired me.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “It’s close to family and it’s where I student taught. I enjoy the administration and the community.” What do you like about teaching social studies? “I love the content and I love making a connection with history to the kids.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “Be personable.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “Being honest and understanding with them. And lots of coffee.”

Who are you? What do you do here? “I’m the Principal here at Augusta High School. It’s my first year here, I’ve been at the middle school for the last five years.” When did you want to become a teacher? “When I was in high school, I really wanted to teach and coach. That’s where I was happy.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “Augusta was nice because we were able to come here and still be close to Wichita. It gives us the small town feel and yet in 20 minutes we can get to anything we need in Wichita.” What do you like about being principal? “90 percent of the students that are in the building, I know by name. We’ve got great teachers and great kids in the building. That makes my job really easy.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “Trust your students, trust your teachers, and be flexible.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “Being genuine and honest and being there. Going to their events, having conversations with students, [and] taking a genuine interest in their stories.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “Garan Qualls. Health Science, Head Baseball Coach.” When did you want to become a teacher? “From a very young age I knew that I wanted to teach and coach. Both of my parents are in education (my dad coaching also) so I have seen the impact a teacher has on students” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “Well first what drew my attention to Augusta was, my wife is from Derby, so we were trying to get back closer to her family. Once I started hearing about Augusta we fell in love with the place. Amazing tradition and school pride here at AHS” What do you like about teaching? “The difference you can make in someone’s life.” What is your biggest inspiration for becoming a teacher? “As I said earlier, both of my parents are educators, so at a young age I knew that I was going to teach and that never really changed.” Why do you teach high school students? “Once a student reaches high school, some start knowing what they want to do with their life. The classes that I teach hopefully prepare them for their careers.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “Every student is different. You cannot teach every student the same way. Treat them as a person not just students going to school.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “Laughing with them and getting to know what they like to do outside of the classroom, like athletics or different activities.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “I’m Mr. Hager and I teach woodworking, IET, and construction.” When did you want to become a teacher? “My senior year of high school.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “This is my third teaching job. Me and my wife decided we were going to look for a different location to teach in. We had to look for a place that had elementary positions and industrial arts. So I came out to interview at Augusta, and I met Mr. Hussleman and Mrs. Zarr and after meeting them I felt this was a great place for me to teach.” What do you like about being a IDA teacher? “Not only are we teaching the skills in the class we teach soft skills as well like being on time and time management. I teach skills that go along with regular life than just building projects.” What is the best advise a teacher has ever given you? “I asked on of my teachers how he handled when you get frustrated with a kid and they come back to your classroom the next day. He told me that everyday is a new day with a student as soon as you walk out of that classroom you forget the negative things that happened and come back in with a positive attitude.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “I will talk with them and see what’s going on like what activities they do during the school year. I like to know what they’re doing in school and out of school.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “I am Tyler Patterson and I teach business essentials, business law, business management, and accounting. I also coach JV basketball and might help coach track this year.” When did you want to become a teacher? “ It’s a crazy story actually, after I completed my undergrad and worked at Newman, I decided I wanted to work with high school students instead of students at the collegiate level” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “My old high school basketball coach used to teach here years ago and he had a good relationship with Mr. Sims. He talked me into applying here, plus the chance of almost getting to coach basketball with Mr. Sims brought me here.” What do you like about teaching Business law, Business Management, and accounting? “There seems like there is a new thing everyday and everyone has different personalities.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “Probably to take it day by day and building relationships probably is the biggest thing.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “I get to know them, what they like, their personality, and what they are interested in.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “My name is Dawson Elliott, I am originally from Goddard Kansas, I graduated from Kansas State in 2016. For the past 5 years I was living in Topeka Kansas teaching World History at Seaman High School. This year I am teaching; 9th grade Health, Physical Education and Lifelong Fitness. I am also coaching football and wrestling.” When did you want to become a teacher? “When I was in 3rd grade I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wasn’t the best student but when I had a teacher I really connected with and cared about their students I seemed to do way better. Since then I wanted to be that teacher for the students that might not exactly like school.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “My brother lives in Augusta with his three kids, being away for so long I was missing a lot of their birthdays and other events. Family is very important to me, so when I saw this job opening I immediately knew I wanted to move here.” What do you like about teaching 9th grade Health, Physical Education and Lifelong Fitness? “This is my first year teaching physical education and health, I made the switch from Social Studies because I am a very active person and wanted to do something where I was moving around more. Also I am very passionate about educating people about making healthy lifestyle choices and how health is not just about your physical health but also mental emotional health.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “That teaching your content area is not the most important thing you are doing, it is about building relationships with the students. Relationships have to come first.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “Something I do that is very important to me is I ask my students what they did over the weekend every Monday/Tuesday. I try to find out what their hobbies and interests are, I find it very interesting that all students are completely different and unique in their own way. My goal when students leave my class is even if they didn’t necessarily like the subject I taught, they know that if they need anything they can come to me for support.”

Who are you? What do you teach? “I’m Audrey Neuschafer and I’m the new counselor for the class of 2021 and 2023.” When did you want to become a teacher? “I thought I wanted to be a Marine Biologist because I was sure I was going to train dolphins. So I majored in Biology. But then I took a college level biology majors class and it was WAY hard and not something I was interested in so I switched my major to Psychology and loved it.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “We moved to the Wichita area just over 2 years ago and at that time I accepted a counselor position at Augusta Middle School. My daughter was a 7th grader when we moved here so it worked out great to have her in the same building as me. Last February, Mrs. Lary reached out to me and said she was moving and with my daughter becoming a 9th grader this year, the timing was perfect so I accepted this position.” What do you like about being a counselor? “I think we have a great, caring staff of folks here. I am familiar with the 10th graders from when they were 8th graders at AMS and I know the 9th graders pretty well, also. I am excited about getting to know the students and seeing the seniors take their next steps in life outside of high school!” What is the best advise a teacher has ever given you? “Everybody has the ability to solve their own problems but it is the counselor’s role to help students come up with that solution and the tools to put it in place.” How do you build a relationship with the students? “I always try to smile and get a smile in return. I also always try to hear and understand the student’s perspectives and I hope students see me as an accepting, safe place to turn if they need anything.”

Who are you? What do you do here? “I teach high school social studies; I have American History, Geography, and Current Events.” When did you want to become a teacher? “About my sophomore year of college.” Why did you choose Augusta High School? “I’d been teaching in a smaller school and I was ready for a little bit of change, and wanted to try my hand at a larger school.” What do you like about teaching social studies? “I just enjoy teaching social studies in general, I like history especially. With the way I teach history, the block schedule is going to be the biggest benefit for me.” What is the best advice you have been given about teaching? “Don’t do it for the money. If you go into teaching for the pay, that’s not what it’s about.” How do you build a relationship with your students? “I don’t BS my students. I’m honest with them and I expect them to be honest with me. I share things about my past and my life so they can relate.”

Who are you? What do you play? “Emily, I am the accompanist for the choir.” When did you want to become an accompanist? “My mother was an accompanist growing up so I knew pretty early on I wanted to be a musician. “ Why did you choose Augusta High School? “I went to school here and my family teachers here. Mrs. Deaver is actually my sister-in-law. Even though I live in Andover and I think being a part of the community is so important.” What do you like about being an accompanist? “I like the high school age of kids. I like being able to support upcoming talent.” What is the best advice you have ever been given? “Chances are, you are probably going to mess up performing but always push through and always finish strong. It has always been helpful.” How do you build a relationship with the class? “I like asking kids questions, I am very curious.”