By Jonathan Blaylock
When a school is built it can last for years and nothing exterior or interior can change. But one thing that does change are the people inside.
Students come and go every four years and teachers do as well. Last year science teacher Kirk Moldenhauer retired after almost 20 years of working at FC. Since he retired he left a job opening for new biology teacher Rod Goforth.
“Ever since I moved in the area, I thought it would be great to be able to teach close to home,” said Goforth.
After graduating from Jeffersonville High School, Goforth went to IU Bloomington and graduated with a degree in environmental science. He first worked at the Indiana American Water Company. As time passed he did not enjoy it and did not see a future in the career. He then started teaching at the Indiana University Southeast and taught biology of birds. He then started teaching at the Louisville Nature Center, which is a part of the Louisville Zoo.
“After a few years I decided to do something that would make a little bit more money. I started my family at that time and my sons were born, and that’s kind of when the whole transition started,” said Goforth.
He first taught at Valley High School for two years and then Seneca High School for six; both schools are in the Jefferson County district in Kentucky. After teaching at these places he transferred to New Albany- Floyd County Schools where he met Moldenhauer’s son, who told him about his father retiring. He kept a look out at FC, submitted his resume and has been teaching biology since August.
Since his arrival he has brought new things to the science department.
“We started Science Olympiad back up. It hasn’t been going on for several years. What it is is 23 different events in the course of the day and there are 15 people on a team and they all break up into pairs and they each go to different events.”
Goforth has also added a few new members to the class.
“We have a pet snake, a piranha, some turtles, some geckos, some cockroaches — some interesting things that make it a little bit real,” he said.
In general he said that he just want to make class fun. He tries to make it enjoyable everyday because if he is not having a good time, he believes the kids will not either. It turns out the kids usually have quite a good time.
“I really like him. I think he is a fun teacher. He really gets the point across,” said freshmen Ryan Roles.
At the end of the day Goforth not only teaches biology but has made it an interesting way to learn the subject. Goforth believes the key to running a successful classroom is to actively interact with the students while also making sure they are enjoying themselves.