By Feature Editor: Hannah Snyder

Starting out in high school, one of the most exciting things is being in control of the classes you’re going to take. Just like every grade, freshman students have to follow the basic outline and requirements on which courses to take in order to graduate. One of which being Biology. Mr. David McCall has been privileged enough to be teaching freshman the basic information on biology for the past 12 years.

After graduating from Berkley High School and studying biology and general science at Wayne State University, Mr. McCall began his career back in 2001. Although he has been a part of the Howell Public School’s staff for over a decade, Mr. McCall taught his first year of biology in Royal Oak.

Mr. McCall knew he wanted to become a teacher a year before he graduated. He was a swim coach and enjoyed mentoring and guiding others. Plus, some of his favorite classes in high school were science based.

“I have always loved science – I had some really good science teachers throughout school,” Mr. McCall says.

For some, science based classes may not be their forte. However, Mr. McCall understands and continuously works hard to assist and make sure students leave his class at the end of the year with as much biology knowledge possible. He uses different teaching styles to satisfy every students needs. Labs, discussions, group projects and a variety of activities give Mr. McCall’s class a different twist from classes that simply learn out of their textbook all year.

“I like to always get feedback from my kids to know what’s working or not for them,” Mr. McCall says.

Mr. McCall is also teaching two classes of honors biology this year. The course is faster moving and goes into more depth for each topic.

“It’s my first time teaching honors so it’s interesting,” Mr. McCall says.

Mr. McCall brings his teaching skills outside of his classroom too. Being a runner himself, Mr. McCall has been the cross country coach for Parker Middle School for the past three years.

He has been running since high school and enjoys being able to continue in his free time.

“It’s actually fun to work with younger kids,” Mr. McCall says.

 His love for children might even be larger than his love for science. Mr. McCall has been married for years and has two children – Cameron who is in 5th grade and Mackenzie in 2nd grade.

“It’s crazy to see them grow so fast,” Mr. McCall says.

Mr. McCall may be at the freshman campus but he doesn’t mind it at all. He explained how he likes the separate buildings and the location of his room.

“It’s nice because it’s smaller over here and everyone is right around the corner,” Mr. McCall says.

The freshman campus is a good way of easing into the high school experience. Mr. McCall gives the new students an experience of a lifetime each year. What freshmen learn in his class guide them into their future science classes throughout high school.

“My favorite thing [about teaching] is probably just being able to share science with students,” Mr. McCall says.