Science and beyond, teacher Mike DeMint has taught it all. DeMint has taught more classes than any teacher in the history of Stockbridge High School. He has taught over 20 different classes throughout his 53 years of teaching here in the school district.
Although DeMint has enjoyed teaching all of his classes, one stuck out in particular.
“Probably one of my favorite classes would have been Chemistry that I taught last year. I liked it because there are lots of hands-on activities,” DeMint said.
DeMint recalled a favorite memory that he has of how he helped a girl that struggled in class.
“She was getting in trouble in every class,” DeMint said. “People said she wouldn’t make it through the first semester of her freshman year. I refused to let her misbehave. The first few months I would have to remove her from the class for her behavior. She would then cuss me out and call me inappropriate names.”
However, DeMint never gave up on her.
“I refused to let her act that way and eventually she started coming around and succeeding,” DeMint said. “She ended up passing her freshman year and actually graduated. When she came out of the gym from graduation she saw me and ran over to me and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for not letting her misbehave.”
Teaching is not DeMint’s only passion. He also has many hobbies that he enjoys in his free time.
“At some point in time I will quit teaching,” DeMint said. “I have so many hobbies I like to do. I do vinyl graphics work.” Once he does retire, DeMint plans on moving down to his second home in Florida.
DeMint will retire one day, but this year he has goals for his students this year in his Earth/Space Science & Physics class.
“My goal for this year is that they succeed and learn the materials that the state wants them to know,” DeMint said. “Also for them to mature as human beings. I think that the biggest part is for students to learn more than just learning the material. I’ve had the Juniors since 6th grade and one of the biggest things is seeing how they have matured in behavior since 6th grade.”
