Emily Nguyen
Staff Writer
Most teenagers cannot wait to finish high school and
move away from their hometowns, but some return to their high schools as
teachers. English teacher Alex Mann says her experience as an Apex High student
was similar to the way the school the school is now. She recalls that the
lunches were still split, and some of the same teachers are still working here.
Mann, who graduated in 2006, says, “The school is the same aesthetically, and
the traditions were similar.” Mann says that the pods are a major difference;
during her high school years, the pod grounds were tennis courts. When asked
what influenced her to return to Apex, she said, “Apex is a close community, a
humble community, while Charlotte, where I was, was big and disconnected.”
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| Alex Mann |
Physical Education teacher Forrest Moog shares Mann’s
sentiments, describing Apex as his home. “I love the school and the staff,” he
says. Moog graduated from Apex in 2007 and, after returning to Apex as a
teacher, observes that the school has remained the same. “It’s been a while
since high school,” he says, recounting his experiences working with his former
teachers. “It’s not as different as it sounds. [The teachers] treat me like an
adult and a teacher.” However, he admits to being unable to call his teachers
by their first names. His mother, head librarian Leila Moog, says, “We hardly ever
see each other.” She enjoys working with her son, however. “It’s nice because
he knows the people I talk about.”
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| Forrest Moog |
Both Moog and history teacher Adam Thomas have
parents working at Apex. A. Thomas helps his father, history teacher Gregg
Thomas, with technology, and the pair collaborates on lesson plans every couple
of weeks. “It’s awesome – some days,” says A. Thomas about working with his
father. “And other days, it’s far from awesome.” G. Thomas agrees that working
together is “a unique situation in that we have good moments and bad moments. Very
few people have the pleasure of working with their child.” A. Thomas chose to
return to Apex to teach because he knew the school and his way around. He
describes his high school self as an “average high schooler,” doing his work
and trying to stay awake in class. When asked if he had anything he wished to
say to his former teachers now that he has experience teaching high schoolers,
he replied, chuckling, “I’m sorry.”
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| Adam Thomas |
