While one of the thrills for new, graduating teachers may be to have their own classroom filled with students, for first year teacher, WilliamMercer, the experience was quite different due to COVID-19. 

Now that things have shifted to a remote learning environment, Mercer has had to learn to adjust.

 “It’s not like anything anyone could have anticipated, that’s for sure. It’s a challenging world out there for new and experienced teachers alike, but the students and staff of DHS have made this year quite a bit smoother than it could have been.,” Mercer said.

Prior to coming to De Soto High School, Mercer was an assistant debate coach at Maize High School outside of Wichita for four years. 

Mercer, who graduated from Wichita State University, went into college “wanting to be a teacher and [I] have clearly stuck to that plan. My degree is actually in history/government education which I explored as a possibility, but I always knew that debate and forensics were in my teaching future.” 

Along with having a passion for teaching debate and forensics, Mercer also enjoys partaking in the activity himself. 

“I did debate [and] forensics all through high school and was a coach throughout college so it’s been a part of my life for almost a decade now,” Mercer said. 

Not only did Mercer participate in debate and forensics, Mercer excelled in the activity. 

“I was a State forensics champion and a national semi-inalist in Senate debate. I attended the state and national tournaments for debate and/or forensics many times,” Mercer said. 

Although this school year is certainly different from the rest, it has presented Mercer with new experiences and taught him to adjust to very different circumstances.