Mr. Purdie, the US history and drivers ed teacher in the school has a lot going on both in and out of school. In his interview, he answered about how and why he chose history, drivers ed, as well as a look into his music taste and life outside of school.
As a kid, Mr. Purdie always wanted to be outdoors, however, as he said he was very good at sports which took up all his time. During his high school years, he was involved in football, wrestling, lacrosse, as well as bull riding. Mr. Purdie even holds a school record for sacks. However, this all changed after his last college football game.
At this point, sports were over for him, and he felt free to wander around and learn, and “be part of the perpetual recycling of
God’s energy that is nature.” Mr Purdie said. Due to this, he started into his greatest hobby, which is sourcing his own food, which
includes growing food, as well as hunting.
Mr. Purdie is a big fan of music, and everyday before class always plays what he calls bumper music. Mr. Purdie’s bumper music can be inspired by the mood from the day of the week, like on Friday where he plays a ripper from a jam band, or if its content related, where after settling in, the kids might listen to it again or read the lyrics.
Other than this, Purdie enjoys a lot of jamband, one of his favorites being Dirty Blanket, a local band that every year does a show of Grateful Dead songs. He also enjoyed Oliver Anthony this summer, which he said “it was a great mix of country, classic rock, but had a church gospel element to it,”
Mr. Purdie says that students going to college can get free lessons while in college, where they can get a ½ credit for it, where it’s a free A. “A great way to pad your grade point average, you’re welcome to America,” said Purdie. He said he didn’t realize until junior year that he was getting credit for it, and was just simply showing up for lessons, where out of school, it would cost hundreds of dollars.
Mr. Purdie came from a long family of educators. His father worked in an inner city school with kids who had tough circumstances and was inspired by the close connections he made with kids. He felt like it was a great way to make money to support his family, but more importantly made an impact in the community and the life of kids.
Other than US history, Mr. Purdie is the drivers ed teacher, which seems like a very scary task, since he’s driving on the road with inexperienced drivers, which anyone can tell you is hard to do, especially since one mistake can be fatal.
When asked about drivers ed, Purdie said that, while there are scary moments, that he likes being a part of students getting their freedom of getting their license. Since it’s a big part of many kids’ lives, he enjoys being a part of their journey to get there.
He was also asked what he wished students would do differently, and he said that he wishes that students would be more social, since a lot of them spend most of their time on their phone. He says that there are people that students could find new people to be friends with, or have connections with but it’s been isolated through technology.
He explains how the wasted time at the end or start of class used to be the loudest part of class, and students used to erupt with noise, but now it is the most quiet since everyones just on their phone. As he said “Life is so short, jump in and do something,”
