Scott Meaders
Story
Through my journey in life, I stumbled upon different facets of the concept Story. I truly fell in love with Story from a very early age. The first aspect of Story came in the form of movies which captivated my mind and soul having brought me into a new world, a world that I fell in love with. Mr. Burgess in ninth grade opened up an entirely new world to me as he read from the pages of the Oxbow Incident, Sea Wolf, and the like. I became mesmerize that a book turning on its pages could do the same thing to the mind as movies had done to mine. My reading career didn't take off until I found myself on Kodiak Island in Alaska looking for work. I was unable to get work at first and picked a book off the library shelf. Since that moment I have not stopped reading.
It wasn't until I attended college to pursue a teaching degree that I discovered I also had a voice for Story. I produced my first short story as a means of completing a writing assignment. During my third year of teaching, I projected a picture on the wall and told my students to create a story, as 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. They in turn challenged me, stating that if it was easy enough for me that I should do it. This was the birth of my first book, The Journey Thus Far.
I have since that first book, finished 10 books and have another three that are very close to being completed. Most of the stories I have written focus on middle level students and how they can navigate this increasingly difficult maze called life.
Teaching
There is nothing I enjoy more as a profession than that of teaching. My career started at North Marion High school as a long-term substitute for a teacher on maternity leave. I taught 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English. Once that position ended, I was asked to be on full time as a teacher filling various educational rolls until the end of the year.
No position was available at the end of the year, but one had opened up at the middle school. I became the 7th grade LA/Social Studies teacher. I had never anticipated teaching middle school as I had always envisioned my career at the higher levels, but I needed a job. I fell in love with working with 7th graders.
I quickly became the 7th grade writing teacher for most of my years at NMMS as the principal saw my passion for Story. I spent 14 ½ years of my teaching career enjoying my job of interacting with students and building what I hoped was a pathway for a better future for my students.
Our family decided to go on an adventure and move to Alaska! One of our better choices in life. I obtained a teaching position at Clark Middle school in Anchorage. Clark is the most diverse middle school in all of the United States with regards to population groups. This was a tremendous experience that I will always cherish and remember.
Thinking that I wanted to impact a whole school rather than just my classroom, I have obtained my administrative credentials. My goal has been to be a principal at the grade school level, but one problem came to mind. I had never taught grade school. I made a difficult choice to venture away from Clark and obtained a teaching position at Ravenwood Elementary as the 6th grade writing teacher where I currently am teaching and enjoying the new level of education.
Travel
A true passion of mine is to see the world and experience other cultures to gain an understanding of humanity.
I have been to only three continents, Europe, Africa, and North America. I am extremely excited for my future travels that may lead to other distant continents.
I've traveled to Germany, England, Morocco, Mexico, Canada and reside in the United States. My wife and I plan to travel to many more countries in the near future.
Within the Untied States, I have traveled through many states, but found that to drive through is not the same to have been there. My goal is to one summer visit all states and gain an appreciation for the cultural diversity of each state.