{"id":41516,"date":"2017-08-19T05:13:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T05:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=41516"},"modified":"2017-08-19T05:13:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T05:13:12","slug":"high-school-custodian-earns-degree-to-become-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/lifestyle\/smart-living\/high-school-custodian-earns-degree-to-become-teacher.html","title":{"rendered":"High school custodian earns degree to become teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

High school custodian earns degree to become teacher<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

High school custodian earns degree to become teacher:- After spending seven years working as a custodian at a Kentucky high school, Lowell Outland walked back into the same school as a full-time teacher on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outland, 59, is now teaching many of the same students who saw him cleaning the campus and helping them on field trips at Tates Creek High School in Lexington.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives you a whole different feeling,\u201d Outland told ABC News. \u201cThe kids would come up and say, \u2018Hey, weren\u2019t you a custodian last year?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outland said his career change prompted one of the school\u2019s approximately 1,800 students to tell him, \u201cMan, I think that\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outland wasn’t able to finish high school himself in the 1970s, but he earned his GED while in the military. He went on to earn an associate’s degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outland said when he started at Tates Creek after being laid off from a local electronics company that was downsizing, he had no interest in working in the classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

He dropped out of high school in the 1970s and earned his GED while in the military. He later went on to earn an associate\u2019s degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, while working at Tate\u2019s Creek at night, he took college classes in the morning and earned his bachelor\u2019s degree from a nearby university.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said being around the high school students led him to change his career path and go into education.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got to know the kids and there are some of them that are absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed being around them,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like it was time for me to start contributing a little bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lowell said he studied before the start of his 1 p.m. custodian shift. When Lowell left his custodial job in July, it marked the end of his 12-year educational journey from associate’s degree to teaching certificate.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think my past experience will give [students] something to think about,\u201d said Lowell, who is teaching digital photography and graphic communications. \u201cI\u2019m showing them what they can do with their lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The school\u2019s principal, Marty Mills, said he had no hesitation in hiring Lowell, whom he said has a natural rapport with students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy that we\u2019re able to keep him here,\u201d Mills said. \u201cI just believe it\u2019s a great story for our kids and for everybody — that when it gets hard, you don\u2019t just give up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lowell, 59, said he \u201ccan\u2019t comprehend\u201d his age and so is undaunted about starting a new career at a time when many of his peers are considering retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked whether being around high school students gives him energy, Lowell replied honestly: \u201cSometimes it does and sometimes it just wears me out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Lifestyle\/high-school-custodian-earns-degree-teacher\/story?id=49297329<\/span><\/p>\n

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