Mr. Puterbaugh has been teaching for the past 12 years and wears many hats at High School including being in charge of drama club, broadcast journalism, print journalism, a media studies class, and multiple theatre related classes- even a behind the scenes tech class. Additionally, he told me that this school year alone he has subbed for every single department. This variety and experience made him the perfect candidate for this month’s edition of What It’s Like.

The interview with Mr. Puterbaugh really opened my eyes to how unfair a teaching career can be. Not because of the students, but because of, as Mr. Puterbaugh said, “the bureaucratic loopholes that we have to jump through.” He went on to explain what he meant by this bold statement:

“I get why a lot of it is in place but, for example, I have to renew my teaching license every five years. To renew my teaching license every five years I have to have 180 contact hours of professional development. So that means every year I’m supposed to be doing at least 30-40 contact hours…but I can’t get the license renewal just off of what Northmont offers. So, I have to do outside things…[but], I can purchase credit hours from universities to say that I did contact hours…I have to pay for the contact hours to pay for the license renewal…on my teacher’s salary.”

So, why become a teacher if it’s so hard? Mr. Puterbaugh told me that he became a teacher because, “When I was in school some of the people who helped me figure out what I wanted to do in life and made sure that I was having a good day were my language arts and theatre teachers. So, I wanted to make sure the next generation of students would also have a place where they could go and feel safe and included.” Similarly, he enjoys “having life talks and chats with the students because I know…having a chance to have those conversations with somebody could be really good and important for people.”

For those interested in a teaching career, Mr. Puterbaugh let me know that all you need to do is pass the praxis test and get a bachelor’s degree in the subject you want to teach. He also noted that the first four years of teaching is a kind of training period full of mentors and observations; then you’re a full-fledged teacher.

As a journalism teacher, Mr. Puterbaugh had some advice for any high schoolers reading: “Learn to vet your sources, whether that is your friends telling you something, you reading something online, or what family members are telling you, just learn to vet and fact check and form your own opinions.” While this applies to journalism and high schoolers, it can also apply to everyone in every stage of life that may be reading this.

Lastly, if you’ve met Mr. Puterbaugh, you know he’s hilarious. So, as my final question I had to ask how he got so funny. The answer? “A lot of joke books.”