Name: Rick Gehrman
School: Waccamaw Middle School
Subject(s) taught: S.C. History, eighth grade
Age: 57
Hometown: Pawleys Island
Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
College: Frostburg University, Shippensburg University
Number of years teaching: 34
Favorite memory: “The rewards [of teaching] are great. Hearing a former student share a story from decades earlier can be really special. As a winner of the Bi-Lo Golden Apple award in May, I feel honored because you have to be nominated by a student. The Teacher of the Year award is nice, but it comes from your colleagues. The Golden Apple means you’ve connected with a student; it’s even more of a prize.”

Grand Strand Magazine: When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?

Rick Gehrman: “I’d always had an interest in history and loved school—everything about it. It seemed a great idea to stay a student and stay in the school setting.”

GSM: What makes a great teacher?

RG: “You have to like your kids and like the subject you’re teaching. It’s also important to be prepared. You have to stay up on the latest techniques in teaching; we call them ‘best practice.’ Like any profession, you can’t get out of school and never ever go back to class again.”

GSM: Are kids different today than kids of 5, 10 or 25 years ago?

RG: “I think so, yes. [Today’s kids] are much smarter and have more knowledge at a much younger age.”

GSM: What challenges do teachers face today?

RG: “I think the greatest challenge is that a lot of our children come from broken homes, and we have to work with that. A lot of kids are dealing with autism and other disabilities, and we have to be trained to work with all types of children, no matter what challenge is presented.”

GSM: Have there always been autistic kids and we didn’t know what to call them, or is there a definitive rise in the frequency of autism and its diagnosis?

RG: “I think there have always been autistic kids, and [years ago] they were separated into other classrooms. Research is still working on this. If I could answer the [autism question] I could retire and write a book. It’s the $64,000 question. We know now that these kids function just fine in a regular classroom, as long as the teacher knows the proper ways to work with them. I wouldn’t want them in a separate classroom. I’ve had several autistic kids even in the four years I’ve been here, and many of them are very bright and excellent students.”

GSM: Were you a good student?

RG: “I was. I loved school. My parents liked school. My father valued education, even though he was denied much of it because his mother was ill and he had to work to support the family. My mother was a registered nurse, so she was a college graduate and always instilled in us the need to do well in school. Mostly my mother, and sometimes my dad, would sit down and make sure we understood our homework assignments and did our work.

“We followed that with our own children. One of them has two master’s degrees, the other has a bachelor’s degree and is a PGA golf professional in Savannah. My daughter teaches high school science in Maryland.”

GSM: If you could make a suggestion to the superintendent of the school district, what might it be?

RG: “Keep on doing what you’re doing. Our superintendent [Dr. Randy Dozier] is just fantastic. He makes sure we have the latest technology. He’s good with finances; our district is very sound financially. You read horror stories about districts having to cut teaching staff or not being able to order textbooks. But we have everything here, every bit of the