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When most people graduate high school they usually don’t plan to return, but at NS that is often not the case.
Of the 43 certified teachers and administration at NS, 18 were once students here. This might be unusual in other places, but with the limited number of jobs in Sanpete it’s not unheard of for NS graduates to come back to their alma mater, sometimes just to continue living within the county.
Layne Cook, a former student and current business teacher at NS, says that part of the reason that he decided to become a teacher was so that he could stay in Sanpete County.
“I knew I could stay local,” Cook said. “I didn’t want to travel for work.”
Cook graduated from NS in 2015, and when the previous business teacher left this past summer, he decided to return to the school as a teacher.
“I never thought, when I was here, that I would want to come back and be a teacher,” Cook said. “It’s definitely a lot different here as a teacher than as a student.”
And while the school as a whole hasn’t changed much since Cook left just four years ago, he says it is hard for him to adjust from being a student to being a teacher.
“The crazy thing is trying to develop relationships with some of these teachers that I was their student,” Cook said.
One of these teachers is Tyler Bailey, another NS alumnus who says that it would be hard for him to teach anywhere else.
“I am a homeboy–my whole life is here,” Bailey said.” It would be very hard on me to go somewhere else.”
Bailey graduated from NS in 1998, and while he didn’t initially want to become a teacher, he believes that it was the impact that certain teachers had in his life that made him decide to return to NS.
“It’s not something that I thought about growing up,” Bailey said, “but I probably would say that I had some very influential teachers.”
After attending both Snow College and SUU Bailey returned to NS to teach U.S. history and psychology in 2006, and he believes that he was lucky to be able to return to his alma mater as a teacher.
“I am extremely loyal to North Sanpete High School,” Bailey said. “I was raised in this community, I have been here my whole life, I am extremely fortunate.”
Overall, Bailey is glad that he decided to become a teacher and come back to his former school.
“It’s actually not a bad gig–it’s nice,” Bailey said.
Rickie Stewart, NS graduating class of 1999 and current business and finance teacher at NS, says that a large part of why she even became a teacher was so that she could come back to the school.
“Originally I didn’t want to be a teacher, I think part of it was just coming back here because this is a place that I love,” Stewart said.
Stewart loves being able to teach at NS and be apart of a place that is important to her.
“Being able to be here and be part of a place that I love, and be apart of something that is important to me,” Stewart said.
Sanpete county is Stewart’s home, it’s where she grew up, and it’s where she wants her kids to grow up.
“Just family and being home,” Stewart said. “I think that this is just a really great place to raise your kids.”
Overall Stewart just loves NS and Sanpete county, she can’t imagine teaching at anywhere other than her alma mater.
“I wouldn’t want to teach anywhere else,” Stewart said.
