Staff Feature: Bethany Johnstone 

image of teacher

Bethany Johnstone

  1. What year did you graduate?

    I graduated from Borger High School in 2011.

  2. What do you teach? What do you coach?

    I am teaching high school P.E., I am the Head Volleyball Coach and I will be the assistant coach for the girls' soccer team.

  3. Highlight a fond memory or two that you have from high school

    Traveling and competing for multiple athletic teams for Borger High is when most of my favorite memories happened: beating Pampa my senior year to advance us to the next round of the volleyball playoffs, staying at the condemned hotel in Jacksboro, experiencing teachers and fellow classmates cheer for the athletic teams, etc. Another fond memory I have is when the school band would walk through the halls to signal when a pep-rally was about to happen.

  4. What motivated you to become a teacher

    During college, I coached club volleyball to raise money for rent/tuition/food/etc. When I graduated college, I became an executive news producer at a television news station and the hours only allowed me to do sporadic lessons for local high schoolers instead of coaching club like I had been doing. After almost two years of that, I had a lightbulb moment. I realized that the only time I really felt happy was when I was teaching someone something, like training new employees and teaching different skills to volleyball players. So, I decided to leave the news industry and start a path towards what fulfilled me more.

  5. Tell about how you feel being back at BHS

    I feel a sense of pride. I walked the halls, I competed in Tex Hanna Gym; knowing that I’m part of Borger High School’s history and knowing that I am getting to teach students that are in the process of putting their own stamp on Borger High’s history, is amazing.

  6. How have things changed?

    By the time I got to my senior year, I had already taken almost all of the classes and Pre-AP classes that Borger High offered. When my mom asked the school if I could take more college-based courses, she was told no. So, I only had four classes my senior year. One of those classes was P.E. (even though I was in athletics) and one of the other classes was math I had already aced. I chose to do that instead of re-taking another class because math was my favorite subject, which meant I’d be less likely to get bored. Now, Borger High students can graduate with their associate degrees before they even graduate high school. Another huge change is that 9th graders no longer have off-campus lunch and have their own wing. Also, Borger now has 8 periods instead of 7.

  7. What are you most excited about for this year?

I’m just extremely excited to experience Borger High School from a different perspective. Seeing how everything works “behind closed doors” will allow me to appreciate my high school experiences more because now I’ll be able to understand the how’s, why’s and how much effort went into making everything come to fruition.

Posted by rebecca.calder On 11 October, 2019 at 9:10 AM