In every year in high school, changes are inevitable. Classes are restructured and new policies are put into place. In this case, Mr. Pascoe, one of the South’s government teachers, is switching over to North. Picking up some of Pascoe’s classes, Grosse Pointe North government teacher, Andrew Taylor, is excited for the challenge that comes with an unfamiliar environment. 

According to Taylor, South is a great school that he wanted to work at for a long time. His son and daughter are also at South, so being able to be there for them throughout the school year was a tiebreaker in his mind.

“This school had advantages that I liked a lot but, I’ve already worked at North for 13 years and I’m willing to do something new so, being able to do something to challenge myself to grow and be able to sort of come home and work closer to my home community seemed really appealing,” Taylor said. 

Although South students have only been taught by Taylor for only 2 weeks, they’ve already noticed a different learning pace than other social studies classes. Jayden Anderson, who has Talyor’s AP Government class, acknowledged that Taylor was unlike any other government teacher that he’s had in the past. He pointed out that he was a very open teacher who was acceptable to change.

“I thought he was a very, very lenient teacher,” Anderson said. “He was not very strict with phone policies, he very strongly believes if you’re an AP student that you can you can behave yourself.”

Taylor’s motivation for teaching students is not only about getting the material, but about developing yourself throughout the school year no matter what subject you’re in. 

“It doesn’t matter to me what class it is it’s about literacy and students being able to read and write to express their ideas, being able to challenge themselves, to grow in new ways whether it happens to be world history or economics or biology or english,” Taylor said.

As Taylor is picking up some of Pascoe’s old classes, he is picking up his. Although Mr. Pascoe has built up a reputation and relationships with students at South, he is also excited for the opportunity of switching schools. He is moving to North for similar reasons as Taylor. His kids are going to North and he moved there to support them.

“I’m really excited about switching schools. I love my South students. I still talk to a lot of them and I think that I built a big relationship and good reputation there with my students, but at the same time it’s an exciting thing to be able to be at a new school where my sons are gonna go and it’s just a really cool experience for me and something that’s exciting for me,” Pascoe said. 

The arrival of Taylor has given a new and interesting perspective on government for  students at South. With time, Talyor and Pascoe will be able to create a strong relationships with students and faculty just as they did in their past schools.

“I’m excited to see what other things you have in store and how else we’re going to learn what we’re going to learn,” Anderson said.