Brandon Weeks is now in his second semester as a first year teacher at Perry High School, though before he even graduated from college he knew this is where he wanted to be.

Weeks had the opportunity to student teach in Perry last spring and experienced a great first impression.

“My first day (student teaching) my mom and dad called me because they wanted to know what was going on and the first thing I said on the phone was ‘I want to work here.’  The kids are phenomenal, the staff is great and the facilities we have are second to none compared to most schools.”

The instrumental music director says he didn’t know longtime teacher Steve Cook was planning to retire at the end of the 2013-2014 school year when he started student teaching. Because Cook had been around for so long, Weeks knew the bar was set high but the students in Perry have respected him from the start.

“I like it a lot, there’s days that are in valleys and days that are in peaks.  Because I’m so new to the job, honestly every day is probably more of a learning experience for me than it is for the kids just because I’m trying to figure out how to do my job.  I mean, there’s only so much college can teach you in four years.  So I’ve learned a lot and I’m learning a lot about myself and about the kids.  They make my job so much easier than it could be.”

Weeks says he has talked to other first year teachers who are not having as pleasant of an experience right out of college and he feels fortunate to be in Perry.