At the beginning of each lesson, he starts talking about the government. He doesn’t want to make his lessons with just saying the facts on the presentation, but relates it  with current events in the real world. 

“Just trying to make it relatable, personal and be a human,” US government teacher Jude John said. “Not some stoic wall that’s just there to deliver information.”

Government teacher Jude John was named Teacher of the Year during a faculty meeting on March 31. 

“I was overwhelmed,” John said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I was very honored because I’ve  worked with so many amazing teachers here. It felt very nice to stand out, but also kind of like I know there’s so many other great teachers too. So kind of mixed emotions.”

The teacher of the year is awarded to a teacher who impacted on their students. Every Hays campus selects a teacher of the year. 

“I mean, he’s someone who you can really connect with and be like, ‘Hey, I’m really struggling with something, or there’s something not going my way’,” senior Trayton Weeden said. “He’s somebody you can easily be able to talk to, and be able to be like, ‘hey, this, these be our next steps and being able to move on from that makes us better beings.’”

John said the reason he became a teacher was because he wants to help people.

“Whenever I was in college, I asked myself is how can I help the most people I could,” John said. “How can I have a positive impact on the most people possible? I want to be able to help students fulfill their own potentials.”

Senior Itzayanna Figueroa said that the atmosphere in his class is lively.

“Very energetic, never boring,” Figueroa said. “He just brings out his whole energy and everyone would cooperate. Meaning we feel safer and judgment free.”

All of the teachers in the district that were named teacher of the year had a luncheon at  Trattoria Lisina and went to the PAC to receive their awards. 

“It was super cool to be around other great teachers from around the district,” John said.” It was cool to be in that environment like that with them.”