By Lauren Hartnett
Staff Writer
Patrick Gendron’s first year of teaching at WA is coming to an end next week. But he is no stranger to the school; he graduated here 6 years ago. You may be thinking, “Why would anyone ever want to come back to high school?” But Gendron has always thought he’d be a PE teacher, and even though coming to WA was unexpected he couldn’t be happier with the results.
Gendron was influenced to be a teacher by his mother, who taught at Abbott and Day Schools here in Westford. His old PE teachers also influenced him, some who still teach here at WA today. He wanted to be a physical education teacher specifically because of his own interests though. PE has always been his favorite subject in school, and that hasn’t changed since he went to WA.
“I could never sit in an office, that’s why I decided I wanted to be a Phys Ed teacher. [I like] being active all day,” said Gendron.
As for coming back to his old school, he says it’s a little weird seeing the teachers who taught him in the work environment. He was taught by the same people he works with now, such as Maria Henderson and Jim Antonelli, whom he had for his classes before he graduated. But he appreciates the people because some of them, like Shaun Hart, helped him get his job here at WA.
“When I was looking for a place to do student teaching, Mr. Hart basically took me under his wing,” said Gendron. Hart helped him get a student teacher job at WA, and without him he probably wouldn’t have been able to come back and teach here.
Westford Academy isn’t completely the same as when Gendron went to school here, though. Even if it didn’t change much, Gendron says there are more PE options now than when he was a student here. Current students now have shorter lunches too, due to the growing population of the school.
With more options in PE for him to teach, it seems like it’s the perfect job for Gendron. Not only does he love his job, but also he loves being able to stay in this “great community” we call Westford, where he grew up and where he will hopefully continue to be.
