This year marks Mr. Bruce McLain’s last year at Sahuaro, having taught here for 12 years. Planning to fully retire, he hopes to travel, especially to Missouri to see family.

McLain, who did not originally intend to teach, first became interested when tasked with showing new salesmen the ropes at his previous occupation in the pharmaceutical industry. He ended up choosing to pursue a career in education, obtained his certificate in Illinois, and moved to Arizona where he began teaching. Mr. McLain doesn’t intend to do any moving in his retirement, as he enjoys the warm weather here, as opposed to having to deal with the cold of his previous home.

The 12 years of Mr. McLain’s teaching career have been exclusively at Sahuaro, where he’s taught American History and World Government as well as Academic Core. “It’s really good to help students that might not otherwise get the help,” McLain said in reference to teaching exceptional ed, going on to state that he enjoyed the one-on-one contact it brings. The size of the classes he teaches helps facilitate closer teacher-student relationships, McLain commenting that it might not be possible to be as engaged with your pupils in other classes. He recalled that his first couple of years of teaching were, of course, often stressful, an experience familiar to every teacher, but he added that he was lucky to have a mentor to offer him support.

In asking him his favorite aspect of Sahuaro, McLain stated that he enjoyed the solidarity of the school’s staff team, highlighting its communication, as well as the cooperative aspects of both the student body and faculty. In short, he’s never felt unsupported. While it’s impossible to help every student, McLain enjoyed watching the students he’s aided develop academically and grow from when he’d originally met them. A con about teaching, especially in Academic Core, is to him, lazy students. No matter the character of his pupils, McLain has always sought to prepare them for life beyond high school, and while he lamented on not being able to spend more time tutoring them, it’s without a doubt that he’s appreciated for his dedication by both his current and former students.