Welcome to my site!

I’m glad you have joined me. To begin let me introduce myself, my name is Merl Abel and I have been teaching in the Morongo Valley area of Southern California for the past 25 years. Fifteen of those years have been at Yucca Valley High School “Home of the Trojans” where I am presently teaching AVID, Driver Education and Independent Studies. I left the school for eight years to start a private Christian school in the area, which has proven to be very successful in both academics and athletics. What made me really love and appreciate my public school district is that they understood my departure and even supported me when I would call upon them with questions. When I approached them 13 years ago, to accumulate letters of reference, they immediately hired me back instead.

Why become an educator?

That is a very good question and one I am asked often. I resisted going into teaching for many years. Both of my parents worked in the field of education. My father was a coach and physical education teacher, my mother worked as a school psychologist. Both enjoyed their positions and worked their way into university positions and eventually retired. My desired was to become a businessman and make a lot of money, what was interesting is that in every job I took after college I was the one they would ask to train the other employees. I enjoyed it and felt gratified whenever I was working in that capacity. After many years in business, I decided to use my abilities to teach full time and returned to college to work on a teaching credential. I have never regretted that decision.

Why the content area of physical education?

When deciding to attend Long Beach State University I wanted to teach in an area I truly enjoyed when I was a high school student. I hade some amazing teachers but was greatly influence by my coach. He so enjoyed coaching and teaching. Physical Education and Driver Education where my two favorite class and so I followed suit by majoring in both.

Why do you continue to further your education?

I believe that to be truly happy I need to be a life-long learner. I have also witness older teachers get burned out or simple “go through the motions”. I never want to be that guy. I enjoy change and new challenges. In the past 25 years I have worked in education in a variety of positions; teacher, administrator, athletic director, coach, Link Crew advisor, and BTSA mentor. By changing positions and taking on new challenges, I have stayed fresh, excited and never bored. I feel I have another good 10 years of teaching left in me and now I desire to teach AVID and Physical Education during the next school year.

I’m looking forward to Blogging with you in the future!