“Your why can be turning a student on to learning, watching them get excited as the ‘light’ goes on. You have to be the safe harbor. You have to be the one who shows up every day,” social studies teacher Andrew Merritt writes in his book “Don’t Be a Teacher (Until You Read This): Thoughts on Teaching from a Teacher.”
After 35 years in education, Merritt’s light will be extinguished at State High, but the students he connected with will continue to shine. Whether students passed Merritt in the hallways, were impacted in his social studies class, or were inspired by the activities he advised, they felt his light.
Where the Spark Began
Every teacher has a story about why they chose the classroom. For Merritt, it was never just a job. It was the place where he knew he could make a difference in the world.
Merritt’s service journey began long before becoming a teacher; he served in the United States Army. While serving in the military, stationed in Germany, Merritt coached a baseball team of 12—to 15-year-olds. This coaching experience led Merritt to the teaching profession.
“I thought this is pretty good, hanging out and laughing with kids. It is fun. I loved history. I loved government. So kind of that pushed me in that direction,” Merritt said. “I was always kind of in the helping field. At one point, I thought about being a lawyer and, at another point, a minister. It has always kind of been in that realm.”
After serving, he got his bachelor’s degree in Political Science with minors in History and Russian. He later earned a master’s degree in Social Studies Education. In 1990, Merritt took his first steps into the world of education, teaching inside a juvenile prison as a summer job.
“That is the reason why I’m still a teacher because your worst day in many cases, or my worst day was in some cases their best day,” Merritt said.
That fall, he taught at his first public school teaching job at a middle school in New York. Merritt continued to teach at the juvenile prison for three summers after he started there.
“After the first two weeks, I thought I hated teaching. I saw no value and did not believe in any way I was adding value; I was lost and was ready to quit. I came home on Friday and thought to myself, I am done. I did not know the protocol to quit but figured by Monday I would see my principal and quit. Then it happened,” Merritt wrote in his book.
Then, Merritt received a letter from a student he had taught his first year working at the juvenile prison. The letter Merritt received expressed the student’s sincere appreciation for his guidance and shared that he was excited to continue his education after getting out of prison. That letter reignited Merritt’s flame and inspired him to stay in education.
“‘Thank you for teaching me that education is not learning dates and facts, but it is about building better people. You made me a better person, and I am out of prison and in school. I am gonna be an engineer because of you,’” Merritt said, describing what the letter shared.
“I was going to quit teaching that day, and I got that letter. I stayed,” Merritt said.
After moving to State College with his wife, they both began teaching at Park Forest Middle School, where they spent the next 7 years working alongside each other. Merritt transitioned to State High to teach AP US Government, AP Comparative Government, and the newly added AspireED course.
“That letter changed my life. I found my why. His letter taught me everything I needed to know about teaching. Teaching is about challenging, pushing, helping, defending, connecting, showing up, keeping your word, and believing in young people. It is about offering a hand up when they fall or, if need be, jumping down in the hole they are in and leading them out. You may be the person that changes their life, thereby changing the world,” Merritt wrote in his book.
Merritt dedicated 35 total years to education. Each chapter of his career offered support to help students grow academically and as better people.
Making It Matter
For Merritt, teaching was never about covering content but about making every moment matter. While Merritt worked at the juvenile prison, he noticed students were more eager to learn when the material applied to their interests and lives.
“We had to teach math and English. I wrote a couple of plays that we did. When we did the math program, I taught with another teacher who was a baseball fanatic. We did fantasy baseball statistics. That is how we did our math. The student who had the best statistics for the week on Friday got a pack of baseball cards,” Merritt said.
Merritt continued this approach while working with students at State High. His teaching style is student-centered, focused on meeting all students at their level and guiding them forward.
“Mr. Merritt, the first thing that comes to mind is student-centered. I think he truly enjoys the time he spends with kids every single day,” assistant principal Ryan Walsh said.
Trevor Dietz, Merritt’s former student teacher, described how he benefited from working with Merritt at the beginning of his teaching career, “He pushed me not to just always talk at students and give them information, but to make them figure it out work through problems to prepare them for the future world,” Dietz said. “It is not necessarily always what you teach the students, but how you make the students feel. The kind of lifelong lessons that you are going to be able to instill, and making sure that at the heart of what you are doing, you are focusing on the students.”
“He cares about the actual purpose of a course rather than the specific parts of work. There is a lot of discussion and a lot of open-thinking time. That makes a very unique and cool environment. As a student, he has encouraged me to think more about the purpose of the material or of a lesson, rather than just learning and memorizing,” senior and student government president Luca Snyder said.
In addition, Merritt has always believed a classroom is where students should want to be. His teaching approach creates a welcoming environment where emotional needs and connection come first. He understands that every student learns differently at different paces or rates and sees it as his responsibility to make his classroom user-friendly and proactive in favor of all students.
“I try to make my classroom the place kids want to be. They feel safe, they like it, and they feel valued in my classroom. That is what I care about,” Merritt said. He focuses on “lighting the fire of learning, not for the grade, but for the learning. Teach to transform, not transact,” he added in his book.
“I would summarize it as he cares. He cares about the people. He cares about students being open to the world around them, exploring it, and figuring it out. He wants them to be good people. He wants them to do good things. He wants to wish them the best in that. I feel like kids would all agree and say that they know he cares. They left feeling better having him,” Social Studies coordinator Jessica James said.
Love of Leadership
“I get excited when I talk to kids and hear them talk about their future. I look at kids, and I am like, ‘This kid is going places.’ They just do not know it yet. I know it,” Merritt said.
At the start of the 2024-25 school year, State High’s Career Technical Center program added an AspireED course for rising educators at State High.
“When I found out that I was teaching with him, I was really excited because I knew that he would bring a level of energy, innovation, and excitement. I do not know if I have met someone who loves teaching more than Mr. Merritt. I think that to inspire people to become teachers, you have to deeply love teaching,” English and AspireED teacher Allison Becker said.
Merritt is constantly thinking about how to provide students with real, engaging experiences in the education world- whether that is through field trips, guest speakers, or activities students can participate in.
“He is such an inspirational teacher. I am so glad they chose him to teach the class because he is the perfect person. Just like his energy, how he teaches and as a person is such an inspiration,” sophomore Ava Edwards said as a student in Merritt’s AspireED course. “Everyone in that classroom looks up to him as a role model. He always says that when you are a teacher, you are not going to be exactly like me, and you are supposed to be our own person. But I think we all looked up to him as someone that we want to be like.”
While the AspireED course gave him an opportunity to guide our future educators, his social studies classes and student government leadership allowed him to impact even more students.
“I think one that he always just focuses on is protecting democracy within our school and within the nation. He has encouraged me and a lot of other people to both advocate for what you believe in, and then to do the follow-up work to continue that advocacy,” Snyder said.
Merritt believes it is essential for students to know their rights as citizens and how to exercise them by voting and being an active part of our country and school community.
“His love for the government and students taking that course shined. He truly had all the pieces that you look for in a teacher. He always does things that are so engaging that he pulled us into and wanted to make it feel like a real scenario. He talks to kids at their level, but also really sets the bar to let them feel like they are truly representing the country. He lets kids dive in and explore,” James said. “I have been able to participate. We went over to the Law Center at Penn State. I got to see him run that. He cared about the details, like being in the courthouse setting. Kids showed up. They dressed up. He just gave kids an opportunity to connect with what they were doing in such a meaningful way that I think there are a lot of kids who were inspired and went on to do more with that.”
Conversations in the Hall
You do not need to sit in Merritt’s classroom to understand his impact; you can hear it in the hallways, in the way students talk about him, in the stories the teacher tells, and in the moments where students feel his presence in their lives. The following reflection captures so many who have felt Merritt’s support and connection.
It starts with a connection, which he never lost sight of. “That is the key to all good teachers, if you make those connections with kids. It goes beyond the content that you are talking about. You get to learn about their background and where they are coming from, what kind of extracurricular things that they do. He has those connections that kids take and can take them with them when they leave,” Walsh said.
Even on his hard days, Merritt consistently stood out. “Mr. Merritt is always positive all the time, even when he is having bad days. It is hard to find him on a bad day, because I do not know if he really has them, but he is always somebody you could bounce ideas off of. It is always somebody you could talk to,” Walsh said.
Students felt more than seen; they felt remembered. “He remembers things. You might tell him something small, and he will remember it later. He always makes it a point to talk to every student in class. He shows up for his students, and he takes the time to learn the little things and does not just focus on the teaching solely. He more wants to get to know you as a person,” Edwards said.
Students felt cared for beyond his classroom. “I think he has done a big job on making sure that people feel seen and feel valued. He is always walking through the hallways giving people fist bumps and saying hi to people. I think that the ability to make people feel seen in a very big building is a very important aspect. Making sure that people feel seen and cared for is really at the heart of what he does,” Dietz said.
Even those who did not have him in class felt his presence. “His general presence, he seems to just always be everywhere. He is not one to just be in his classroom with the door shut. He is always walking around saying hi to everybody, you know whether they are his students or not, he just seems to know everybody and be this positive presence for them,” Social Studies teacher Brian Smith said.
Merritt is a great role model among teachers. “One of the greatest compliments I have ever received was somebody saying, ‘Hey, you remind me of Merritt.’ I was like, done. I made it, I did it,” Social Studies teacher Jennifer Shawley said.
Merritt’s purpose has always been intentional and noteworthy. “He wants to be a light; he wants to shine light, and he wants to connect with everybody. It is so genuine.” James said.
Final walk
After 35 years, Merritt will retire from education, but the glow he leaves behind is not leaving State High. It lives in the students he listened to, teachers he connected with, and moments in the hallways where someone felt seen by him—all because he was a kind person. His career may be ending, but his flame will continue to shine.
