These profiles of new Unalaska City School District teachers were written by high school students in Rainier Marquez's photojournalism class. They have not been edited by KUCB staff.
The Unalaska City School District started off the new school year with a new batch of teachers. One of the newest editions to the staff was Ryan Humphrey, better known among students as Mr. Humphrey, the high school social studies teacher.
Born in Southern Texas, spending a majority of his youth in Indiana, in a town nearly 70 miles from Indianapolis, Humphrey engaged in several extracurricular activities, including wrestling, baseball, and Business Professionals of America (BPA). Though Humphrey idealized the thought of becoming a professional baseball player, teaching had always been a close second choice.
“I just like being in a school. I think education is important. I like working with young people. And I just have fun with it,” Humphrey said. In high school, he enjoyed learning U.S government and even considered it to be his favorite class. Now, Humphrey plans to remain in education but would love to advance within the school system. He is currently continuing his education online through Eastern Washington University. “I’m working on my admin license to become a principal. So eventually I’ll want to move out of the classroom and into that role.”
In Humphrey’s case, moving to Alaska was also something he always aspired to do. After some research, Humphrey found an opening for UCSD’s social studies teacher and decided to apply for the position. The appeal of the ever-changing weather and the beautiful Alaskan wildlife charm was a hard opportunity to ignore.
"The idea of living on an island really appealed to me. So I applied for a job and here we are,” he said. From larger communities and larger schools in the Midwest, a rural town in the heart of the Aleutians is an equally large change. According to Humphrey, it was an especially refreshing change. Learning can be vastly different based on the experience you have, and Humphrey seems determined to help students and the community have the best possible.