For Spears, teaching is a passion

One of our many new staff members at West Florence is English teacher Travis Spears. He has been teaching for five years including this year. His first four years of teaching took place the alternative school in Hartsville. Spears says he is enjoying teaching at West.

“It is a very different environment then I’m used to,” he said.

During his college years Spears attended the University of South Carolina. He never considered another occupation because he has a passion for teaching.

Mr. Spears shows his sense of humor as

he dresses up for Halloween. He strives to

make his English class interactive and engaging.

In the classroom Spears does a lot of discussion based assignments and a good amount of notes. His policy for cell phones is keep it out of sight unless the class is doing interactive games such as Kahoot or Quizlet Live to help the students prepare for an upcoming assignment.

Spears’ hobbies outside of school include fishing and many other outdoor activities. He also enjoys listening to jazz music. His favorite song is “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane.

Spears has a wife who is almost finished with nursing school. He also has two young children. He has a son, who is in the 4th grade, and a daughter who is only two years old.

If he could change anything about the school he would improve or get rid of the mobile units. Spears said that it is hard to teach with all of the commotion going on outside the main building and in the parking lot.

Spears also has pictures of people who have inspired him on his wall to remind him of how he got here. He also hopes that these people will not only continue to inspire him but inspire his students as well.

His advice for future students is to keep up with their grades and be prepared to learn every day.