{"id":19666,"date":"2019-10-25T15:53:23","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T21:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61055"},"modified":"2019-10-25T15:53:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T21:53:23","slug":"in-the-spotlight-andrew-mericle-voted-2019-best-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/in-the-spotlight-andrew-mericle-voted-2019-best-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"In the spotlight | Andrew Mericle voted 2019 Best Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Andrew Mericle with one of his classes at West Grand Middle
\nSchool.<\/strong>
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Teaching is Andrew Mericle\u2019s second career, but his first calling. <\/p>\n

He wanted to be a teacher when he was in college, but ended up in insurance instead. He spent several years there and in the pastoral ministry before making the move to education. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne day I just thought, I really want to be in teaching,\u201d Mericle said. \u201cI jumped over and I\u2019m glad I did. Insurance can be rewarding, but not like teaching. Teaching you can leave your mark on the next generation. That\u2019s the special part for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is Mericle\u2019s fourth year at West Grand Middle School. He teaches seventh grade English, social studies, and civics and debate electives. When he heard he had been voted best teacher in Grand County, he said he was surprised. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s awesome,\u201d Mericle said. \u201cA little bit unexpected, but awesome. I must have a lot of crickets out there voting for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Before coming to West Grand, Mericle taught in Oklahoma for nine years, for a total of 13 years in teaching. <\/p>\n

Mericle is deeply involved in school activities, calling himself \u201ctoo busy for my own good.\u201d He takes the eighth-graders to Washington, D.C., every year; coaches model U.N.; and much more. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about teaching is, there is never a dull moment,\u201d Mericle said. \u201cEvery day is a different class, a different experience. The variety of the day to day makes it the most satisfying. It\u2019s never the same old thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mericle really enjoys his time with students because of the impact it can have. Hearing prior students talk about how he has helped them to succeed is something that Mericle said he wouldn\u2019t trade for the world. <\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody said one time that teachers aren\u2019t doctors or lawyers or astronauts, but in a way we sort of are,\u201d Mericle said. \u201cBecause the next generation becomes those things.\u201d <\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Mericle with one of his classes at West Grand Middle School. Teaching is Andrew Mericle\u2019s second career, but his first calling.  He wanted to be a teacher when he was in college, but ended up in insurance instead. He spent several years there and in the pastoral ministry before making the move to education.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 07:43:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}