Josh Montgomery never planned to be a teacher, but when the career came calling, he remembered how one instructor brought the lessons to life when he was younger.

“I want to try and make these lessons as current as possible for my students,” Montgomery says. “I had a teacher when I was younger who really made me see how history is alive. He showed me the past’s relevance, and that’s my goal every single day I’m here.”

Montgomery currently serves at the history department chair at Bayside Academy, where he teaches AP U.S. history, college prep U.S. history and U.S. history through film. He is also the head coach of the varsity girls’ soccer team.

After playing soccer at Kenyon College in Ohio, Montgomery moved south and taught history and coached boys’ and girls’ soccer for five years at Madison Ridgeland Academy in Madison, Mississippi.

Regardless of the course he is teaching, Montgomery says his best days at the head of a classroom are those filled with thought-provoking discussions between the students and himself.

“A good day is when we have vibrant discussions,” Montgomery says. “The lesson can start with the Great Depression and end with the current healthcare situation. To be honest, the days that the students go off on tangents are some of the best days because they are so convicted with their conversation that you can break down some barriers and bring it all back to the academic lesson.”

Montgomery says developing a trust and rapport between himself and his students is the first step in ensuring they feel comfortable expressing their opinions in his classroom.

“I want them to feel at home,” Montgomery says. “I don’t want them to view me as some big authoritarian figure but as someone they can trust. I want them to be themselves in this classroom.”

Montgomery says the ability to keep the lesson plans fresh for himself and the students is something he enjoys about teaching history courses.

“The great thing about history is that there are so many different topics and areas that you don’t have to always teach the exact lesson year-after-year,” Montgomery says. “You are always going to cover certain topics like the early American republic, the Revolutionary War, the Great Wars, the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. But, I love the challenge of teaching those topics in different ways.”

While historical figures and movements are important to Montgomery’s classes, he says the main goal of all the teachers in the history department is for their students to consider multiple angles to one issue then form and defend their stance on the topic.

“The ultimate goal for us is called synthesis — when students receive different perspectives and knowledge of one event or movement and are able to synthesize those into their own perception or argument about that time period or event,” Montgomery says.

TEACHER: Josh Montgomery

SCHOOL: Bayside Academy

SUBJECTS TAUGHT: AP U.S. history, college prep U.S. history, U.S. history through film

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: A few of my students might actually know this, but I have a passion for music and I play the ukulele. It is the perfect instrument for me, because like me, it is small and capable of being very loud.

On his musical tastes ...

"Bob Dylan is a go to for me. I can always sit down and appreciate his storytelling. Plus, the social consciousness he tried to impart to the nation resonates with me. That being said, I am currently listening to Houndmouth, Shovels and Rope and J. Roddy Walston & The Business."