History and NSL teacher Bryan Lanham became a teacher because he:

A.) loves teaching.

B.) likes getting summer and snow days off.

C.) loves teaching students.

D.) wanted a change from middle school.

E.) All of the above.

The answer is “All of the above.”

Lanham is new to teaching high school students, with this being his first year teaching at Watkins Mill High School. He came to the Mill because he wanted a change from teaching at a middle school, and heard a lot of buzz about WMHS, “I kind of always wanted to teach here,” Lanham said.

Lanham went to college at Shepherd University and the University of Maryland, where he studied education and history. While Lanham was attending the University of Maryland, he took part in multiple intramural sports such as football, golf, and indoor soccer.

Lanham has worked for Montgomery County Public Schools for five years now, Lanham previously worked at Montgomery Blair High School as a student teacher. “Well teaching–it’s just awesome,” Lanham said.

Lanham spent his first five years of teaching at Benjamin Banneker Middle School, located in Burtonsville, Maryland. In his last four years at Banneker, Lanham coached soccer. As a teacher, Lanham likes having “snow days and summers off,” Lanham said. But when school is in session, he “[likes] learning and… making stuff interesting to learn,” Lanham said.

Lanham enjoys teaching at Watkins Mill because of the diversity and the outgoing nature of the students. “I like how no two students are the same,” Lanham said. “I could have a class where it is filled with a whole bunch of kids that talk all the time, but we can have a great discussion.”

Outside of school, Lanham enjoys  playing sports such as soccer and golf. He also trains his new puppy, but doesn’t teach him anything “too crazy,” Lanham said.