Among the many new teachers at Apex High this year, there is also a new CTE teacher: Mr. Jenkins! Mr. Jenkins, whose classroom is in room 2314, teaches AP Computer Science A, Python Programming, and SAS Programming. Although he is new to Apex High, he is not new to teaching. In fact, he is currently entering his fourth year as a teacher.

Mr. Jenkins grew up in Cary and graduated from Middle Creek High School in 2014. He then attended NC State University where he graduated with a major in business and a concentration in finance. Although he had expressed interest in becoming a teacher since high school, he was discouraged by others.

“In high school, I thought I would like to be a teacher, but certain people in my life told me that I wouldn’t make a lot of money and that I should [take] another route,” he explained, which is why he had majored in business instead. However, after graduating, he decided that financial value should not stand in the way of what he wanted to do. 

“[I] realized it doesn’t really matter how much you make, you just gotta enjoy what you do. So, I made a pivot after school and got into teaching.”

For the last three years, Mr. Jenkins was a teacher at Knightdale High School where he taught Principles of Business, Business Law, and Entrepreneurship classes. At the time, programming was one of his hobbies that was separate from his job. However, he is now utilizing his passion for programming in his career by teaching Apex High’s programming classes.

“I think there’s a lot of career potential in programming and I just like the idea of teaching kids actual [real-world] skills.”

Mr. Jenkins has also connected more with his programming interests by being an advisor for the Technology Student Association (TSA), which is a program that reinforces programming skills through competitions with other schools like Apex Friendship and Panther Creek. Similar to DECA competitions, TSA competitions brief the teams on a particular problem and have them utilize various devices or programs to develop the best solution.

Although he has only been at Apex High for a few weeks, Mr. Jenkins has been enjoying the school’s building and facilities so far. However, he was especially happy to see how welcoming and kind the other staff members have been.

“The teachers have been incredible. Everybody in the CTE [department] especially has been super supportive, always popping in, seeing if I need anything.”

When he is not teaching or advising TSA, Mr. Jenkins can be found engaging in activities that many others do: reading, watching TV, and spending time with friends. He also occasionally plays soccer and the drums.

“I’m just a normal person,” he added. “I’m not this robot who just goes home and plugs in and recharges and wakes up the next day.”

Overall, we are happy to have Mr. Jenkins at Apex High and cannot wait to see him grow as a teacher!