Growing up in Plainview and graduating from Plainview High School in 2019, first-year English teacher Grayson Moore earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 2023 from Texas Tech University. Among his interests outside of school: going to the gym, playing the drums and reading (especially Harry Potter). Wingspan sat down with Moore to find out what led him to teaching and joining the Redhawks.
Wingspan: What experiences made you know you wanted to teach English?
Moore: “So when I was in college, I was in one of my freshman English classes, and I was still undecided with my major and they went over a study that talked about how they used the number of students in fifth grade that were a year or more behind on their literacy skills. And they used those students to count how many beds they would need in the prison system when they turned 18. So it kind of drew the effects of literacy on incarceration and so that kind of opened my eyes and I’ve always been into English and reading and so that’s kind of what drew me to teaching English.”
Wingspan: You said you’ve always liked reading and writing – why?
Moore: “I think for me, at least reading is an escape just like watching a TV show or a movie. I think that once you really get into a book, you can kind of escape in it and I’ve loved that since I was in second grade.”
Wingspan: Describe a typical day of being a teacher.
Moore: “So for me at least I wake up at 5 a.m. I go to the gym and I work out before school, because after school is just impossible. And so I go back, I get ready to go, get all my stuff to come to class. I usually get here around 8 a.m. And depending on the day; if I have an A day I have first period advisory so I’ll grade, I’ll reply to emails and phone calls, and get all that done first period. If not, I’ll get ready for first period on B days and teach throughout the day. After the day is over, if I have stuff that I need to get done at school – I’ll stay. If not, I’ll head home and work on stuff there.”
Wingspan: What made you decide to work here on campus?
Moore: “So, I’ve always heard Frisco is a really good school district. And so I came for a teacher job fair type thing where after that I got several emails from a bunch of different schools in Frisco and Liberty was one of them. And so I had a few interviews that same day and the Liberty interview went really well and they offered me the job at the end, and that’s the one that I decided on.”
Wingspan: What is your favorite part of being a teacher?
Moore: “I love the student engagement. It’s pretty fun. I like thinking of different ways I can make my students laugh and make the lessons as fun and enjoyable as possible because I know that I don’t like just teaching. I don’t like teaching a whole, whole lot of stuff, so I know that they probably don’t enjoy learning it either. So trying to make it fun is probably the most fun part of the job.”