Although we have had to say goodbye to a few teachers last year, we have welcomed new ones into our community. One of the new teachers is Andrew Truelson, a first-year teacher in the english department.

“I love Topeka High. I love the energy and I love the history. I student taught here a few years back and I liked it then, so yeah I love it, it’s great,” Andrew Truelson, english teacher, said.

Teaching freshman english and creative writing, Truelson has had to adapt to the classroom setting and realized it is more keeping the students focused than anything else.

“You sort of think it will just be me lecturing 90% of the time and entering grades, but that is only a small part of it. It is a lot about building relationships, solving problems, and there is a lot of stuff that you do not know about until you are actually in the room,” Truelson said.

Truelson grew up in Iowa where he attending high school. After graduating high school he went to Kansas University for his undergraduate degree. He later moved on to Washburn University to receive his teaching certification.

“It’s a long process. I came into it pretty late, because I was in my thirties before I started going to school to become a teacher,” Truelson said. “But as you get older you sort of realize that you may be really good explaining things or that you may be an expert at a certain subject and you enjoy telling other people about that subject. So that just took a long time in my case, I did not want to be a teacher right out of the gate, but I eventually came around to it.”

Before having his own classroom, Truelson was a student teacher here in the past and has also worked as a substitute teacher. This has allowed him to learn a great deal of how to manage a classroom and ways to teach a class. He hopes to continue teaching and have a good year.

“They always say that the first year you teach you are just trying to keep your head above water, just do not drown, and you may not do anything spectacular. So I want to get through this year feeling like I want to come back again next year because a lot of teachers burn out right away in their first year. I want to get through May and feel like I cannot wait till August and do it again.”