Pistor Middle School

Lee is Pistor’s longest-lasting teacher, with a 30-plus year tenure at the southwest school. He’s taught language arts, journalism, and some other topics, but primarily has taught social studies. Ever since he was really young, he was always intrigued by history. 

“I like to go ahead and show the students what it’s like to adapt to different environments and also explain to them that [history is] not a dead thing – that it’s not just dates, but it continues on,” Lee said. “So, if I can show them that and show real life, I think they get a lot from my class.” 

Walking into Angel’s classroom, two things are clear: he loves his family, and he loves The Simpsons. Angel, who is a 29-year veteran teacher at Pistor, has a whole wall dedicated to photos of his daughter growing up and a corner dedicated to The Simpsons artwork and paraphernalia. 

Funny enough, most of The Simpsons trinkets and items were actually gifted to him by students over the years. And the relationship between him and his students is what has led Angel to have such a long-standing tenure at the southwest middle school. 

“I love my job,” Angel said. “I love my kids. And it just doesn’t feel like I’m working when I come here. To me, this is just hanging out and having fun.” 

Stanley has worked at Pistor since 1996, and was a long-time social studies teacher, but midway through last school year he wanted a change. He approached his principal Kathryn Gunnels and asked her to keep him in mind if a position out of the classroom opened up. And it did. 

Now, Stanley is in his first year as the school’s Behavior Specialist. 

“It’s been a new challenge,” Stanley said. “It’s been fun. So, it’s nice to be doing something different – it kind of sparked a new energy into me.” 

Through the new change, however, Stanley never considered leaving Pistor. He loves the community, students, and families too much.