Everyone knows how new and difficult this school year has been. Now, imagine that this is your first year teaching at a completely new school. Even more new and difficult, right? That’s the boat that Mr. McKilen is in this year, but not only has he made it work, he has managed to thrive. In addition to teaching Latin, he is also the head of the Latin Club and the Falcon Writers Guild, a creative writing club that’s new this year, as well. This year will be his 6th year teaching. He had heard good things about the school district, so when he moved to the area and there was an opportunity, he took it.
Mr. McKilen loves the humanities. Things like creative writing, history and philosophy have always been his main interests. He didn’t always know he wanted to be a Latin teacher when he started out. When he was in school, he took Latin for three years and fell in love. He had a good teacher who helped to get him interested in the subject and, later, he decided to become a teacher because of the opportunity. He was a classics major in college, studying Ancient Greece and philosophy. In the past, he has been involved in drama and he enjoys almost any creative projects and bringing arts into his classes.
It’s never easy to pick a favorite book, particularly when you’re interested in writing and the humanities, but if he had to pick his favorite books they would be The Iliad by Homer, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, and Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Although choosing a movie can be equally hard, his favorite movie is The Prestige, which, according to Mr. McKilen, is severely underrated.
This year he teaches in room 2307, so feel free drop by and say hello!