Coming from track practice, speech teacher and track coach Kenneth Decuir switches from his casual coaching clothes to a nice work shirt and pants. Wearing work attire rather than coaching clothes all day is taking some getting used to. Decuir taught at Memorial Parkway Junior High School before coming to Tompkins and he would stay in his comfortable coaching clothes all day. Even though working at Tompkins means changing his routine, Decuir knows it is worth the trouble.

“Kids here are a lot more self motivated and driven,” Decuir said. “It is not easy to find students like that.”

Watching mixed martial arts, along with fishing is something Decuir likes to do in his free time. Louisiana is Decuir’s home state and he lived on a farm with his entire family. The ample amount of land and animals kept Decuir entertained growing up.

“I enjoyed living on a farm, it was fun having all the the land,” Decuir said. “We could do a lot of stuff like hunt.”

Change is not always easy, especially when a teacher goes from teaching middle school to high school, but Decuir is the perfect teacher for the challenge. According to Decuir going to school with a lot of school spirit makes him want to teach and be part of the school. Having previous Tompkins teachers around to help makes it easier and more welcoming for the new teachers.

“My goal is really to become a part of the Tompkins family and to be a good asset,” Decuir said.