Get to know P.E. teacher, Mr. Edwards

Everybody loves John Edwards. Ask anyone on campus if they know him and they’ll tell you about something hilarious he said or did. However, most people don’t know his most memorable moment in high school, or when and why he became a teacher.

“I remember the class of ‘95 senior prank,” said Edwards when asked about his favorite high school memory. “Someone had cut a hole in the cyclone fence, and drove a red Volkswagen into the swimming pool. They had to get a crane to get it out, and it cost $25,000 to remove it. The oils and all the fluids jacked up the pool filters, and it was all just a mess. I’ll never forget it.”

When asked why he decided to become a P.E. teacher, he recalled his elementary school teacher, Karen Davis. “She made me want to go to school, and she made education fun,” said Edwards. “I could tell that she cared about her students, and I wanted to be able to give that to somebody, someday.” Karen Davis is remembered at the district office with a garden dedicated in her memory.

When asked why he chose to teach P.E. he referred to the discipline required for physical exercise: “You have to put the work in to get the results you want.”

Through his own active lifestyle, Edwards demonstrates its virtues in the hope that his students will carry those lessons beyond high school and into their adult life.

“I just know that there’s a certain quality in life that you get when you’re healthy, and I try to impart that on my students,” he explained. “That’s why I teach.”