Students listen as Shane Worley explains the secrets of chemistry.
by Morgan Nutt
Shane Worley has lived in Brevard almost his whole life: he went to high school and college in Brevard. He played football at Brevard High School as an offensive line and defensive end and was a starter. He said he just did not want to leave because it is his home and always has been.
Worley’s main hobbies are hunting, fishing and mountain biking with his kids because he loves being outdoors. His love for the outdoors comes from growing up outside when he was a kid. His favorite things about being outdoors are the peace and freedom and the fact that there are no walls, no people, and just the sounds of nature.
Even though he loves Brevard, he left home for a year in search of job opportunities in South Carolina. He was working at construction plants down there. When the housing market went down, people were not buying homes, and his job was to make homes. He was not making any money, so he decided to come back to Brevard and go to college to be a teacher.
He wanted to teach science because he already had a background experience with scientific testing in his construction job. He would do hurricane testing to see if what they were building could withstand those conditions, so he learned about scientific weather patterns. He said it was a more natural path because of all his prior experience.
Worley also really wanted to stay in Brevard to coach and teach because it is his home, and he wanted to be able to give back to his community and be loyal to his school.
He originally only wanted to be a teacher just so he could coach football, but once he started going to school to become a teacher, he fell in love with teaching and learned it is really is his passion.
Even though this is his first year, he has already made impacts on his students.
“Mr. Worley is really fun, really nice, and he’s really funny, and you learn a lot in his class, but he keeps it interesting!” Freshman Maggie Morris said.
Worley is amazed by the impact a teacher can have.
“Once I started in education, and when I started working with kids outside of the football field, it made more sense,” said Worley. “It’s like I can do more than just be a coach. I could actually be a teacher and actually impact the lives of students.”