Story and Page By: Jaida Jones and Maddi Farmer
Walking into the building they had spent four years in, they shook out their first day jitters and hurried to the lecture hall. They sat down and looked around, anxious for what the year might bring. Hearing the principal say their names, they nervously stood up to be introduced as the new teachers.
Teachers Hector Arzola and Dylan Bacon attended the high school and continued their journey here as teachers after college. Arzola teaches Spanish I and II, and Bacon teaches agricultural science and floral design.
“I like the idea of hiring new teachers because generally they’re going to be the most passionate when they come straight out of college into teaching,” Chilek said. “They are going to bring a sense of passion and inject some energy into the campus in general for students and teachers alike.”
Photo provided by: Dylan Bacon
Arzola took several dual credit courses in high school, so he went to TJC to finish his basics in the fall semester of 2017. The next spring, he transferred to UT Tyler and majored in Spanish with a business and administration minor.
“Right now, since it’s my first year of teaching, I’m focused on the day to day things,” Arzola said. “Everything is much more new to me, but I’m really excited about the year.”
In his freetime out of school, Arzola does real estate and remodels houses. While school takes up most of his time, he enjoys working on land.
Photo by: Kaylee Rodriguez
“In my free time I enjoy being with family,” Arzola said. “I also enjoy working out and just hanging out with friends.”
After graduating high school as a 13 year student in 2017, Bacon attended Texas A&M University of Commerce on FFA scholarships for three years. He then started teaching high school when he was 21.
“I want my kids to be successful when they leave here,” Bacon said. “If they graduate and leave here and are ready to go to college, then I’ve done my job. Preparing my students for the future is absolutely critical to the success of the organization.”
Photo provided by: Dylan Bacon
Recently, Bacon and his wife celebrated their one year anniversary, and they are expecting their son to be delivered any day now.
“I am really excited about my son,” Bacon said. “My wife and I value family a lot and I’m eager, yet nervous to be a dad.”
Teachers, coaches especially, sometimes have to balance more than one subject, and 67 teachers in the high school alone teach two or more subjects. Bacon is the AG and floral design teacher, and Arzola plans to be a soccer coach as well in the upcoming years.
Photo by: Kaylee Rodriguez
“We consider those students to be the best of the best,” Chilek said. “Anybody that has graduated from here is welcome to come back to teach here because they know those principals and values that hopefully we passed onto them when they were students.”
Currently, there are 24 former Lindale students teaching at the high school, and each year, that number grows. Both Arzola and Bacon are contributing to the varying activities they participated in as students.
“I played soccer in high school, and that’s where most of my memories came from,” Arzola said. “We’ve got a good group of freshmen coming in this year that is probably going to do crazy things later on.”
Photo provided by: Dylan Bacon