Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. My name is John McGasky, and I'm a teacher at Getson County High School. I teach AP language, AP literature. Last year I taught English for honors and straight at English for class and journalism. One of the little exercises that I almost always do is I'll start at the door once I get the kids in the classroom. And I'll say, okay, well, right now I'm in Getson County. And then I'll take a couple of steps. And I said, well, now I'm in Tallahassee. And then I'll take a few more steps. Well, now I'm in Miami. You know, I said, where can we go in this class? And I think a lot of my students just don't come to our classes here with just not a lot of background knowledge. There's some of them, really smart kids, but they just seem to be in an environment where there's just not a lot of outside stimulation. A lot of exposure to the news or the world or history or things like that. So I'm trying to broaden their horizons in as many directions as I can. I care about them. I want them to learn it. I want them to find that learning is a lifelong thing. It doesn't just stop once you walk up the doors. Some of the kids in spite of you. You know, when you get a kid that gets it and wants to be challenged, if you get them engaged, sometimes there's no whole bar. You know, how far they're going to go. It's important. You come here every day and you try to just make a difference. And I think that's an admirable goal. There are times I think in our lives where I think you're called to do something. Not easy, but I think it's worth it. My name is John Nagowski and I cause trouble in room 416 at Gadsman County High School on a daily basis. You're listening to voices that inspire.