Pitman High School’s World/American History teacher, Mr. Stephen Montgomery has been selected by The Roaring Times as Teacher of the Week . Mr. Montgomery previously taught for seven years as a substitute all over StanislausCounty, and has been working for nine years at Pitman. His suggestion for college-bound students is to become able to write at a college level as soon as you possibly can and create a system of organization to keep up with your work.
He decided to become a teacher because he knew he could make a difference in the classroom and because he holds a high value on the education and potential of young people. His favorite high school subjects were history and woodshop, stating “I’ve always loved history, and woodshop was something I could do with my hands and make money.” Outside of school, he enjoys playing historic table-top games and sci-fi board games.
Montgomery’s teaching philosophy is to “Understand that this is a learning environment and that we all learn from our mistakes.”
When asked if he feels he has made an impact on his students’ lives, he easily believes he has, saying he acts as a positive role-model for young people and inspires them to do great things. Just as he has inspired his students, he is greatly inspired by historic greats like Mohandas Gandhi, Thomas Edison, and Franklin D. Roosevelt because they refused to accept limitations and “…created progress and broke down boundaries.”
Mr. Montgomery has shown that he is one of Pitman High School’s finest teachers and has a strong passion for history.