In 2015, social studies teacher Kenton Armbruster started his journey teaching at SHS, serving as a long-term substitute for the English department. However, Armbruster was involved with SHS long before he became a teacher.
In 2010, Armbruster graduated from SHS, and now, after a long time of hard work and dedication, Armbruster is taking the leap to be SHS’s next Instructional Coach. In this new position, he hopes to have a positive impact on students.
“They’ll be more hands on with the teachers and their professional development, but in that way, I’ll also be able to impact more students,” Armbruster said.
In between Armbruster’s time attending and teaching at SHS, he attended Wabash College and majored in psychology in 2014. His background in psychology was a driving factor in his decision to teach at the high school level.
“You can’t teach psychology anymore except for high school and above, and I’ve always felt like I related better with the high school age kids,” Armbruster said.
Currently, Armbruster teaches social studies and psychology. But at the start of the second semester, his role at Southport will shift. In contrast to Armbruster’s current position, in which he is hands-on with students, his upcoming position will have him instructs teachers instead of students.
With his new position, he won’t be stationary in one classroom, and he’ll have to leave the students he’s currently teaching.
“So instead of being in the classroom, I will be popping into other teachers’ classrooms and trying to help the teachers develop as educators, help them to support them in how they are able to help every student in their class,” Armbruster said.
SHS Instructional Coach Jake Fritz was involved in the interview process for the open position. Armbruster made it to the final round of interviews, and his long involvement with the community, his character and his willingness to learn, helped him secure the position.
“Anybody going into a new position is going to struggle with something or other,” Fritz said. “But the fact that he is open-minded, the fact that he is willing to come in and try and do things, he’s gonna fit in just great.”
While Armbruster is ready for the step up and the opportunity to help teachers grow, it will be an adjustment to not have as many interactions with his stude
“I’ll definitely miss being able to interact every day with students. I’ll still be able to impact students in different ways but it’s disconnected,” Armbruster said.
Armbruster has become intertwined with the SHS community through years of involvement in high school, as a teacher, and now even as an upcoming Instructional Coach. Throughout his time as a teacher, Armbruster has made connections with students all throughout the school and hopes that with this promotion, he’ll be able to do right by them and make Southport an even better place.
“He’s a very excellent person, you know that his intentions are good,
he’s not full of himself,” Fritz said.
