Humans of Seven Lakes: Spartan Games Teachers

Mr. Carlton

What class do you teach?

I teach orchestra. I’m the assistant orchestra director here.

What was your strategy for getting past the elimination rounds of the Spartan Games and moving on to the pep rally?

So we talked about it with all of our orchestra classes and instead of turning in the change and the cans directly, we had them turn it into us. We just timed when to take the stuff down and make sure we were not in last place. For the canned food drive, we incentivized it for our classes, and we said whichever class brings in the most canned goods ratio, like per capita, I guess, gets a cupcake party, and then they were all in competition with each other.

Who do you think is your biggest competition in the Spartan Games?

Probably Brewer – I can tell he’s very competitive, and he’s probably practicing these things after school and stuff. 

What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?

Spend time with my family. I have an eight year old and a five year old and love spending time with them. They’re both big into Pokémon right now. 

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be and why?

Well, I was at one point going to be a nuclear engineer, believe it or not, and so I guess this was probably for the best.

Coach Crocker 

What class do you teach?

I teach Forensic Science and Environmental Systems.

What was your strategy for getting past the elimination rounds of the Spartan Games and moving on to the pep rally?

We had a good thing going with the “Science Alliance,” so we all kind of had each other’s backs and worked together. Mr. Brewer played a big role in making the videos to promote all three of us so that way we could hopefully make it to the final three.

Who do you think is going to be your biggest competition?

I feel like anyone on the “Science Alliance” will be the biggest competition. Mrs. Ballard looks pretty competitive, and I know Mr. Brewer is really competitive and has been really determined in being just a strong leader for the Spartan Games and our “Science Alliance” group. I feel like all three of us are, so we’ll see what happens.

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be and why? 

If I wasn’t a teacher, I probably would be a veterinarian, because I worked for five years as a vet and really enjoyed it. I like working with animals, medicine, and biology. So probably a vet.

Mrs. Ballard 

What class do you teach?

I teach AP Environmental Science. 

What was your strategy for getting past the elimination rounds of the Spartan Games and moving on to the pep rally?

Bribing. I told my kids that we would have a party if I made it to the last round – any school appropriate party. 

Who do you think is your biggest competition?

The orchestra man [Mr. Carlton] – or Mr. Brewer – is my biggest competition because orchestra has way more students than me, but Mr. Brewer is enthusiastic, so that’s problematic for me.

What is one thing that you think students don’t know about you that you want them to know?

They know everything about me because I overshare all the time. Also I’m an open book. I literally think there is nothing they don’t know about me.

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be and why?

If I wasn’t a teacher, I feel like I would wanna work at the zoo potentially or be a tour guide because then I can talk and no one can get mad at me. 

Mr. Brewer

What class do you teach?

I teach academic physics.

What was your strategy for getting past the elimination rounds of the Spartan Games and moving on to the pep rally?

We had five different videos, which we sent through the department and also to the whole school. [In the app] you can dub in voices and lip sync Matthew McConaughey telling about – actually it was my voice, a very poor imitation of him – saying ‘alright alright alright.’ So that was a lot of fun. And then just promoting it in the classroom, I bribed – shamelessly – my students with doughnuts [for] those who brought in the most cans. Period five won with 145 cans, and we brought in close to 400 cans – that’s all my classes. I also made posters [that I put] across the hallway here and there are also posters in the main hallway as well. I promoted the daylights out of it. 

What are you most excited for about the Spartan Games?

I think just having fun. The first two times we did this, a science teacher won, so we have reputation. Out of the four teachers, three of them are science teachers. Well, the orchestra teacher, he’s a pretty nice guy, so he might win too. It’s about having fun, and the intent is always to help others with canned foods and pennies. That was the underlying cause behind this. We never lost track of our true purpose here, and that is to help others with canned foods and pennies for the Arc of Katy. 

Who do you think is your biggest competition in the Spartan Games?

It will be that orchestra teacher! He’s a great guy though. I heard he had over 800 cans. He just totally blew us away, but he did a great job. That was mainly the goal for the fundraiser, gathering canned foods for people who need it. 

What is one thing that you think students don’t know about you that you want them to know?

I want them to know that – I think like every other teacher here – that we can have fun, no matter what the topic is. That’s why I always say ‘fun physics’ in all the other videos that I do. They can have fun learning, it doesn’t have to be a bore. Sometimes it is a bore, and you just got to go through it and try to get enjoyment out of it.