After working for Pleasant Valley High School for 27 years, speech teacher William Myatt announced that he would be leaving the district. Despite the success of the theatre department, Myatt cited dissatisfaction with his day job as a reason for his planned departure. However, due to a schedule change, Myatt has decided to remain with Pleasant Valley High School.
Myatt’s original intent was to retire as soon as his daughter, sophomore Anna Myatt, graduated in 2020, but he changed his mind in light of a growing workload. Myatt has been teaching the public speaking class through Scott Community College for a number of years. Recently, he was also given the role of kickstarting the “gifted and talented program” at Pleasant Valley Junior High School. Though he was originally excited to take over the program, he found that making the round trip to the junior high to teach a class with relatively few resources was too much to handle. Eventually, Myatt made the decision to quit in hopes of moving to a new school.
His students and young thespians were sad to see him go, as he played such an integral role in the theater department. Myatt was reluctant to leave his students as well, but he felt that it would be the best choice given the circumstances. However, as the school tried to find qualified candidates to fill his position, they discovered that there would not be anyone who would be able to take over the public speaking class in the English department. Because of this, last week the school district asked him if he would stay if they changed some of his policies, a proposal to which Myatt agreed. For his plan next year, Myatt states that,” I’ll be teaching four sections of public speaking and after school stuff remains the same. Although this time, doing theatre will now count as a fifth prep for health insurance.”
Junior James Guest, who is heavily involved in the drama department, said, “Just recently while putting on Scapino!, being able to work as his stage manager taught me a lot about leadership. He has a directing style that encourages everyone to have their own creative freedom and helps students grown in their craft.”
Overall, it seems as though students are grateful that Myatt will remain with the school for a few more years. With the short notice, Myatt is doing his best to plan the show season next year, but he is hoping to make it exceptional.
