Teachers are some of the most powerful people in the world. From teaching the core curriculum to building their self esteem, good teachers truly bring out the best in their students. Amongst the most incredible teachers is Jon Bullock, known more commonly, by his beloved students, as simply “Mr. Bullock.”
About Jon Bullock
Jon Bullock was born and raised in Improve, a small community right outside of Columbia. He attended high school at Columbia Academy. Mr. Bullock has been married to his wife, Sarah Bullock, for nine years, and together, they have two lovely children who are his best buddies, Lucy and Archie. Additionally, they have a dog named Milo who was originally for his wife; however, Mr. Bullock soon fell in love with his furry friend.
The Road to the Classroom
Mr. Bullock has been teaching for nine years, but his trajectory to teaching has been quite an interesting journey. Teaching was not his original plan. “I wanted to be a doctor,” Mr. Bullock remarked. Plus, he much preferred the arts to biology. “I changed my career choice because science was hard. When I would walk around the music building where I would have a class, I thought to myself, “why aren’t I doing this every day?” His education started at Jones Junior Community College, where he initially majored in pre-med. Eventually, he switched from pre-med to music and continued to further his education by studying music at the University of Southern Mississippi. “At USM my intent was to be a performance major but I realized that would be a difficult thing to make a living with without adding more years of school so teaching was the other option,” Bullock said. After graduating from Southern Miss, Mr. Bullock embarked on his teaching career at the same school that he gained his primary education from — Columbia Academy. “I will always be in debt to Mrs. Angie Burkett for giving me my first job,” he commented. Mr. Bullock praised Mrs. Burkett for her kindness and said that she was much kinder to him than he deserved. “I’m still dumb but I was really dumb my first few years of teaching,” Mr. Bullock jokes. Currently, he is a choir and show choir director at West Marion High School, where he shares his passion for the performing arts and pushes students to be their best on and off the stage.
Parting Song
The path to the classroom was one that occurred unexpectedly; however, there is no doubt that Mr. Bullock made the right decision. The admiration of music and performance that he shares with his students, and seeing them grow into more confident people, is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching for him. “Because that’s what the arts can do for people,” Mr. Bullock states about watching his students go from being unsure of themselves to becoming self assured performers and people overall. Unfortunately, teaching is oftentimes still deemed as a “lowly position” as Mr. Bullock remarked. If he were to give anyone any advise about teaching, it would be:
“Never stop learning. Times are always changing and so are the ways that students learn. There’s always a new way to teach a subject. A good teacher is always finding new ways to perfect their craft and subject matter.”
While teaching may be seen as lowly by some, teaching is truly more than a job — it is a calling that adds immense value to the lives of students. I think we can all say that Mr. Bullock answered his calling by pursuing teaching and changing the lives of students, one musical note, one song, one dance move, at a time.
