When an opening for the Teaching and Training program leader posted after previous teacher, Shannon Sheldon, took the Community Partnership Coordinator position, previous history Teacher Vincent Thur filled the vacancy.

“I was a master teacher for two years where I was working with teachers helping them perfect their craft,” Thur said. “It’s another passion of mine. When I had the opportunity [to be the new teacher], I jumped forward with it.”

Having experience with the Teaching and Training Program through Central Washington University, Thur taught introduction to education and a variety of other classes in education for 17 years.

“I remember, in one of the first classes, I had a student who just just point blank asked me, ‘So what, what makes you think you’re qualified to do this job,’” Thur said. “To me, that’s great. They’re a part of this program and they want to have somebody that’s actually preparing them, not just giving them busy work.”

After Sheldon’s departure from the program, Thur hopes to pick up where she left off.

“Hopefully, I’m just building on top of what Ms. Sheldon did,” Thur said. “She was responsible for decorating a lot of this space and I love it. It helps me stay focused and create a familiar place. I don’t think I’ll be doing anything majorly different, rather building on that foundation.”

Students in Teaching and Training are looking forward to learning from Thur.

“I think Mr. Thur is a cool teacher and I really enjoy his class,” sophomore Bethany Beckett said. “You can tell he’s passionate about his job and that’s really refreshing to see in a teacher.”

Thur has high hopes and expectations for his students to one day put his teaching into use and help remedy the teacher shortage the district is currently experiencing.

“I’m looking forward to being able to work with students who would become our future teachers here in the valley and that’s really exciting,” Thur said. “Knowing that, ‘Hey, I can be working with students and they could be starting early to get a head start, and maybe even come back to our school here.’ I look forward to watching them learn more as it continues.” 

In the meantime, Thur is hopeful that his students can gain inspiration from the best teachers.

“I want them to see some of the great teachers they have here, so that they can be paying attention to them, not just as students, but also as future teachers,” Thur said. “Take those best qualities that that person has, and kind of steal and take note of it to be able to use that later on.”