The “Gucci” Life of Mr.Brown

Mr. David Brown has been an English and humanities teacher at Pennridge High School since 2013. Teaching since 2010, Mr. Brown developed a love for teaching and English class after being inspired by his high school English teacher, Mr. Leventhal. “He got to know kids on a personal level, and I liked the way he dealt with goofiness in his class. He would talk to kids, allow them to explain their side or come to realizations themselves, and that inspired me.”

Mr. Brown is known for many things around the school. One of the things he has become involved in this year is the Daily Ramble. While this is his first year learning the equipment and being a part of the cast, making and editing videos has been a passion of Mr. Brown’s since high school. He loves to be part of the team and to work collaboratively with Mr. Friedman and students as equals, rather than as one giving directions to the students.

A big part of Mr. Brown’s legacy at Pennridge is his involvement in running Mini-THON. Mini-THON was started eight years ago. The idea was brought to him by two seniors at the time, Adam Bahl and Jenna Paff. Mini-THON has turned into one of the school’s biggest events and has been a success year after year. Mr. Brown’s favorite tradition at Mini-thon is the rave or dance party at the end of the event. “The rave is such a fun experience. It feels different than other school dances because it is a release of energy after a long day. It’s about having fun. It’s a collective celebration of what we’ve accomplished.”

Anyone who has had the honor of being one of Mr. Brown’s students knows that he is the cool and hip teacher everyone wants to hang out with. Simmon Farrell, a current senior and former student of Mr. Brown has nothing but amazing things to say about him. “My favorite thing about Mr. Brown was how laidback he can be. It creates a fun, comfortable environment for all of us to enjoy and express our opinions freely.” When asked about what makes Mr. Brown different from other teachers, Farrell said, “He is really good at engaging with students and getting every person involved.”

In his 12 years of teaching, Mr. Brown has found that the most rewarding part of teaching is getting to help students grow. “My favorite thing about teaching is any time I help a kid become better at a skill or as a person; really just any time I see that I helped someone achieve something or reach a goal. I care about the human end of things and the relationships I get to build and continue year after year.” Mr. Brown is an incredible teacher. He creates fun, collaborative, learning environments for kids to grow not only academically, but also as people.