Before our Valley’s Top Teacher was in the classroom, he was in the military for twenty years. While he served our country he taught “Drug Abuse Resistance Education” and taught at the Security Forces Academy in Texas, among other things.
Now for the past six years, Master Sergeant Jeffrey Bachman has been the Aerospace Science Instructor for the JROTC program at Huntsville High. But really he’s more than a teacher, he is a life mentor.
“He is funny, definitely a character,” laughs Rodrigo Ortega, a Senior JROTC Student. “He is just really caring, he is a bit rough on the outside, but on the inside he is really, really caring.”
Sergeant Bachman says he does not teach school, he teaches life. He is known for always having Mountain Dew and for cheering on the Oklahoma Sooners , but what he is best known for is being full of advice.
“He does become more of a dad for most of the people here, a father figure,” explains Isabella Wiehe, a Senior JROTC Student. “He will sit down and talk you through life issues with your job, or your boyfriend, or your girlfriend, or what’s happening at home.”
“One of the best compliments I got was from a former student,” shares Sergeant Bachman. “As she walked out the door, she had come in several times, but as she walked out the door, she said ‘Sergeant Bachman, the reason I like coming to you is because you answer all of my questions without giving me any answers.'”
Kids say Sergeant Bachman is always there to talk and will have on a hand a box of tissues for any tears and a joke to create some laughter..
“I am not a big jokester, but occasionally I will come in with the dad joke or the pun, and of course they all kind of go ‘Ahhhh’, but at the same time they have a chuckle at the end,” smiles Sergeant Bachman.
From freshman to senior year, his students say that he molds them into the best version of themselves because he shows them their potential. Sergeant Bachman hopes that all his teaching and stories will help his kids continue to grow after graduation.
“I definitely feel like because of him my confidence has gone up, I get less nervous when I am speaking,” shares Rodrigo Ortega.
“The thing I want to see, is I want to see them have the ability to be successful in whatever it is they choose to do,” says Sergeant Jeffrey Bachman.
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