Jarrod Harrison is a charismatic teacher of AP United States History, United States History, International Relations/AP Comparative Government, and former supervisor for the yearbook at Carlmont High School.
Harrison said, “A year after I graduated from graduate school, I took a year off and at Christmas break I ran into a friend from high school who was a teacher. We talked and I thought maybe I could teach at a community college, and then she talked me into public school teaching.”
Harrison enjoys teaching U.S. history because most students can connect to the history of the country that they live in.
“We all live in America whether we like it or not, and the class is about how America is and how it got that way, and I think the kids really respond well to that. Plus, there is a lot about World War II,” said Harrison.
He teaches with his students as a priority, and tries to set his students at ease and make them feel like they are in a comfortable environment.
“I try to inject humor, but it’s not always funny,” said Harrison.
Junior Taylor Sexton said, “He is so funny and he really cares about his students and their success.”
As many other teachers at Carlmont and in California have experienced, the changes in standards and curricula of many courses have been difficult to adjust to.
“We get a lot of requirements from the state and from the district office and then the administration tries to figure out what they need to do to meet that goal. Then they tell us ‘Here’s what you have to do.’ That’s all happening while we are trying to teach. I’ve seen it kind of liken to trying to trying to build an airplane while you are flying it.
Harrison has gone through many major changes recently, specifically the birth of his son in the summer of 2013.
“Now that I’ve gotten married and had a baby, spend most of my time with them. I work on the house, mow the lawn, stuff like that. My life has changed a lot in the past year,” said Harrison.
While on a trip to Europe, Harrison purchased a kilt in Carlmont’s colors. When the school year began, he wore it to all of the football games to represent a Scot, the mascot of Carlmont.
“I dressed in the kilt, painted my face blue, the whole thing. I enjoy wearing it because it’s comfortable and when I went on the road to other schools where we were playing football I climbed out of the car and the other schools said, ‘What the hell is this about?’ and I said, ‘I’m the mascot!’” said Harrison.
“A lot of the other schools didn’t know what a Scot was, and when they saw me they said, ‘That’s what they meant!’ and I just thought ‘Have none of you seen Braveheart?”
