Students saw Ryan Beauregard last year subbing from class to class, but this year, he is here to stay. Beauregard is the new Business and Technology teacher and will be teaching Web Page Design, Personal Finance, Intro to Marketing, Digital Design, and Accounting. He, however, did not get his teaching certificate in a conventional way like most teachers. He was able to receive his teaching certificate through the Michigan Teachers of Tomorrow program. He originally had his Bachelor’s Degree and just needed the certificate.

 “The reason I pursued this option is to ensure I would be able to receive health insurance coverage ASAP,” said Beauregard.

 Beauregard is a Type 1 Diabetic and has been without health insurance for a year and needed to ensure a job that would offer him benefits, so he could take care of his health. His previous position as a building sub was extremely beneficial in helping him get hired at PHS.

Here are answers to some questions you may want to know about Beauregard:

1.What are you looking forward to most this year?

• “ I am most looking forward to furthering the relationships and connections I began to make with the students during last year.  As a full time teacher, I’m excited I will have a set group of students each trimester, rather than working with a different class each day as I did last year as a building sub.”

2.How do you feel about the new hybrid schedule?

• “Honestly, I’m thankful to have a full-time teaching position.  The schedule and changes we will have to endure will only be a small hiccup in what I expect to be a great year.”

3.When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?

• “As a high school student, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  I spent a trimester with two PHS teachers, Mrs. Karsen (Geometry) and Mr. Rieman (Algebra), as a student aide and this confirmed my passion for teaching.  As I graduated college, I explored other career fields but I was ultimately drawn back to education.”

4. Why did you know Plainwell High School was a good fit for you?

• “The biggest reason I knew Plainwell was a great fit for me is I have been involved in the community my entire life.  As a Plainwell graduate, I have always wanted to teach and coach soccer here at PHS.  The timing for a coaching role and ultimately, a teaching position solidified my desire to remain here in our community because this was clearly meant to be!  I’m excited to give back to the school district that I grew up in.”

5. How do you feel about wearing masks in school?

• “ I do not believe anyone enjoys wearing a mask, however, I will absolutely wear one if this means I get to have students in my classroom!  I want my students to be safe and healthy so I will do what is necessary to ensure we are protected to the best of our ability.”

You may have happened to hear a new name in the building: Mr. McNaughton. Otto McNaughton is a new teacher this year who will be teaching English. He is a veteran of the Navy; he enlisted after high school but knew that the Navy wasn’t his long term plan. He has wanted to be a teacher since high school, and is very happy with being able to teach his new students face to face. 

Here are some answers to questions you might have about this new faculty member:

1. How do you like Plainwell High School so far?

• “I’m loving it! Plainwell has been great to me so far. As soon as I got into my classroom, teachers and staff from all over the building were stopping by, introducing themselves, and welcoming me to the building. Students have been great also and I’m especially happy to be able to see almost everyone face-to-face in the classroom.” 

2. How has the pandemic affected your first year here?

• “The pandemic has had a pretty drastic effect on my first year of teaching. I graduated from college, was formally certified as a teacher, began looking for a job, and was hired at Plainwell all during the pandemic. There was certainly sadness early on in not being able to truly say “goodbye” to the students I taught during student teaching and not being able to participate in graduation ceremonies and see college friends. I’m sure any student reading this will know those feelings. There was also a lot of anxiety around being able to get a job. There was so much unknown in terms of budgets and needs for the school year. After all of this, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be working here at Plainwell and to have been welcomed so warmly into this community.” 

3. What made you want to become a teacher?

• “I first thought about becoming an English teacher back in high school, about 2007 or 2008. Throughout my school years, I was very fortunate to have had awesome teachers. Incredible human beings who very genuinely cared about my wellbeing and what I did with myself down the road. I enlisted in the Navy right out of high school, but I knew pretty early on that that wasn’t something I was going to be doing long term. So when it came to the end of my enlistment, I settled on becoming a teacher and moving back to Michigan.”

4. What do you feel are your biggest strengths as a teacher?

• “As a teacher, I think my greatest strengths are a practiced empathy and an ability to connect with people. Those are skills and habits I’ve cultivated because those are the skills and habits in my own teachers that I appreciated the most.” 

5. What is your educational background?

• “I grew up in Lowell (northeast of Grand Rapids) and graduated from Lowell High School. After my enlistment in the Navy ended, I studied at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where I earned a B.S. in Teacher Education with a minor in English.”

Sophomore should be excited to have McNaughton because he is teaching 10a this trimester and seems like he will be a very big help to kids that want to be successful in English. Plainwell sure is getting a kind and respectful teacher out of him.