While he may be a new history teacher here, he is no rookie when it comes to teaching. It took him a few different schools and exploring opportunities almost halfway across the country, but Steven Roberts has finally found his new home here at North Penn.

After graduating from Millersville University with a Bachelor’s Degree in science and history, he still wanted to follow the path of his original dream, coaching football. Roberts applied to a few places as a grad assistant, but his only interviews were in Northern Minnesota and Southern Illinois. Those opportunities just weren’t right for his situation at the time, so he had to turn them down.

“I decided that this isn’t something that I really wanted to do, this isn’t me. I decided to just go home and got offered a chance to coach football at Upper Dublin High School and it sparked what I kinda knew I wanted to do already,” Roberts stated.

Although he knew coaching football was what he wanted to do, he wasn’t so sure about what he wanted his career to be.

“I went into college as undecided and there’s nothing wrong with that but I felt like I needed some direction and I wasn’t sure what I necessarily wanted to do just yet,” said Roberts.

It definitely took some time, but R0berts finally decided where he belonged- in a classroom, teaching students who are eager to learn. This took quite a journey for him to figure out, but it’s no surprise since he grew up with a teacher in his own house.

“My mom is a retired fifth-grade teacher, so I saw how she worked and I also saw the passion that she had for it. I think that drove me, and as cliche as it is, I think that having teachers of my own that were really dedicated to teaching really helped me to want to be a teacher,” Roberts explained.

After this realization, Roberts went back to Gwynedd Mercy and got his Master’s Degree in education. He then started his teaching career in 2014.

In his first teaching job, he was an assistant teacher in a middle school classroom. After that, he got hired as an aid at Springfield Middle School and only worked there for two and a half months before transferring to Upper Dublin High School. He taught 10th and 11th grade for two years at Upper Dublin then transferred to Pennswood High School for his final four years before coming to North Penn.

“I know the type of students, and I know the students are going to work hard here so I’m excited for that challenge. I think that just getting the opportunity to challenge myself with students who are going to push and really give me everything that they have really excited me,” Roberts said.

Coming from schools that were not as big as North Penn, Roberts was definitely in for a treat.

“I know how to get from the front of the building to my classroom and a couple of other places but that’s it,” Roberts stated. He then went on to say, “The adjustment hasn’t been that bad, there have been more than enough people that are willing to help throughout the course of my time here so far.¨

Here, he only teaches 11th grade World History, but that was not the case at his previous schools. He taught a total of 7 different courses including, American history, African American History, Economics, Sociology, AP European History, APUSH, and World History.

“While it’s been a lot of stuff, it has helped me because I have catalogs of stuff that I can use to help me,” said Roberts.

After coming to North Penn, Roberts has continued to help coach the Upper Dublin Varsity football team. On top of teaching a full day here, almost every day after school he would commute to Upper Dublin for practices, lifting, and games. 

“In terms of time, I don’t have much. I think I’m up most nights until 11ish or later and that’s just kind of what it is,” Roberts emphasized.

After a busy fall, though, Roberts is settling in and progressing through his rookie season on team North Penn.