I interviewed Mike McQueen, assistant principal at DMS, former literature teacher at

DMS, and the man who taught me the importance of books like The Outsiders by
S.E. Hinton at a young age (He also happens to be my father.).

1. First, for the readers, What was your position in the field of literature? 8th Grade
Language Arts Teacher

I was fortunate enough to be able to witness him in this role first hand. He was an
incredible teacher. The students loved him very much, and he was able to instill a
love for books in students and drive them to new heights. He used crazy things to
do this too, like Uncle Jed's Barber Shop by Margaree Mitchell. He was my first
literature teacher, from the day I was born.

2. Why did you originally decide to be a teacher? I felt the need to share my
passion for reading with the next generation of students. I felt that I could make a
difference if the boys had someone they could relate to who was a coach and who
enjoyed reading.

I actually never knew the answer to this question, and I very much admire its depth.
I think it is very important for kids to have a literature teacher they can relate to,
and I think it's excellent if you can actually make reading look cool, because well, it
is.

3. Why did you choose literature for your subject area? Passion for reading.

I admire the simplicity of this answer. I think that's all that is necessary to be an
excellent teacher; passion for the subject area. It seems to me that my life as I know
it began with my own passion for reading.

4. How is literature important in your own life? In the words of Otto Frank, people
can never put locks on your mind and by reading literature, one can experience
anything they wish. What impact has it had? It has allowed me the opportunity to
experience things which otherwise I would never have been able.

I have a weakness for deep inspirational quotes, especially ones from people like
Otto Frank. I think he is absolutely correct; literature makes things possible. I also
think telling students how literature has impacted your own life can help foster a
love of their own.

5. In your new position as assistant principal, what is your relationship to literature?

I have to evaluate all the Language Arts teachers.

I think this is a very interesting role for him. I very much appreciate that the
education system includes such evaluations to ensure the quality of the literature
teaching the students are receiving is adequate.

6. Did you ever experience the apathy of students about the subject?
Absolutely...How did you attempt to communicate the importance of it to them? I
don't think that you can change someone by pounding them over the head. I
simply tried to be a shining example of how important literature is and tried to
afford them the opportunity to experience things they were interested in through
literature that provided the experience they were longing for.

I appreciate this approach. Fostering a love of literature is, in my opinion, or at least

an appreciation for, the most important job of a teacher of the subject. However, I
also believe that you cannot force people to love something and an excellent way to
fulfil the ultimate goal is to allow them to pursue or express other interests through
literature. Write a paper about calculus!

7. What is the most important lesson that literature has ever taught you? As I
mentioned before, that there are no locks anyone can place on your mind.

I appreciate the simplicity of this answer from the man of few words. This is a
brilliant thought. I love that each person can take something else from literature.
For me, it has taught me that we are never half as alone as we might feel.

8. Did you ever have an influential literature teacher in your own school days?
Yes....my high school baseball coach was also my literature teacher.

This relates to his earlier answer. I love when literature teachers also fill other roles
in the lives of pupils and can thus more easily reach them and connect with them on
a deeper level.

9. How important is literature to an education, and a life as a whole? In my opinion,

it is the most important because it is the basis for every curriculum and content.

Coming from an assistant principal, I think this answer is very valuable and true. It
will provide convincing evidence to students and other readers of my final project.

10. How can I communicate that to students of this generation? This is the million
dollar question. I don't think I have a perfect answer, but I will say that you need to
allow them to see your passion and allow them to experience literature that will
peak their interest. That will give you the starting point you need to begin their
exploration into the world of literature.

I love this answer, as I had not considered the seemingly obvious idea of allowing
students to pursue other interests in the world of literature. I certainly agree with
his words and have plenty of passion to show to my audience.