Globe: Where did you go to high school?

Adrian Kuehn, Special Education Teacher: I went to Seckman Senior High School in Imperial, Mo.

Globe: What was your favorite subject in high school? What was your least favorite?

Kuehn: My favorite subjects were history and English. History, because the content was really interesting in my opinion, and English, because I excelled in it. On the contrary, my least favorite was probably math, but for the fact that most of my friends were in it. 

Globe: How would your peers have described you? 

Kuehn: My peers would describe me as very outgoing and definitely funny. They would also say I was caring and empathic. On the contrary, my teachers would describe me as someone really dedicated to achieving good grades and as a hard worker. They would have also said I was very social. I am still social today. 

Globe: What was your favorite moment in high school? 

Kuehn: I have a lot of favorite memories in high school. High school was a really fun time for me because I had lots of friends and good teachers. If I had to pick an absolute favorite, I would say it was during senior year, when I was elected to homecoming court. I was so excited that I won. Absolutely a wonderful period of my life during my senior year, homecoming, and all of high school, really. Also, I liked being [a member of] our student council. At Seckman, it was a class I absolutely loved. Also, outside of school, I loved playing dodgeball, so I participated in lots of tournaments.

Globe: What did you do after high school?

Kuehn: After high school, I went to SIU Carbondale and majored in aviation to become a pilot. I did that for two years, and then in my third year, I decided I did not want to be a pilot, so I changed my major to physical education. After realizing how hard it was to get a job as a physical education teacher, I decided to transfer to SEMO and major in Special Education, where I knew I would be able to find a job. 

I changed my career aspirations from piloting to teaching because the instructors of the aviation program at SIU Carbondale were absolutely terrible. They were not people invested in your success. It seemed like they were only there for a paycheck.

Also, my parents were teachers, and they always tried to get me to go into education, so that is why I majored in education after studying aviation. 

I should have done more research about the programs I was accepted to before I made my decision. 

Then, after graduating from college, I got a job at Truman High School in Kansas City as a Special Education Teacher. I worked there for a few years, but then one day out of the blue, I got a call from Clayton School District through the Special School District of St. Louis, and they offered me a special education teaching job. It was a big pay raise, and this is a highly ranked school district, so I would have been dumb not to take it. Obviously, I took it, and I am glad I got this opportunity.