It’s a quiet morning. Loy Norrix hasn’t opened the doors for students, yet the accounting and business finance teacher is already working on new lesson plans for the day.
This will be Jeffery Birkes second year teaching finance in K-5E at LN. However Birkes isn’t just your regular teacher. He has an extensive background in the world of business.
Birkes has an extensive background of 25 years in the business world. He was involved in the marketing aspect of business and corporate development. Although Birkes had a successful career in business, he felt like something was missing. This is why he switched to the world of teaching.
“Fundamentally, I felt like I was no longer growing in that role. One day I woke up and realized that in the last 10 years I haven’t really learned anything new,” said Birkes.
Birkes finds fulfillment in teaching students concepts they can apply in the real world.
“It’s watching when all of a sudden the lights come on for somebody and especially when somebody says ‘hey I can use this,’ that’s always a feel-good moment for a teacher,” Birkes said.
When you think of the world of business compared to being a teacher, you might assume that being in business is a lot more demanding and includes a larger workload.
According to an article written by Ted Callahan from Inc., “Small business owners work twice as much as regular employees, while 33% reported working more than 50 hours a week and 25% said they were working 60 or more hours.”
At this moment Birkes is working 50-60 hours per week as a new teacher, coming up with a consistent system for lessons.
All of this time and effort put into creating an exceptional learning experience in his classroom has definitely paid off.
“Being interested in a business major, taking Mr. Birkes’ class has helped me learn different sides of business and the different ways you can go about business,” said senior Ethan Hall, who had Birkes for international business.
Some students enjoy the classroom dynamics as a whole because it allows them to be more independent.
“Mr. Birkes’ teaching style allows students to have the whole hour to finish their work,” said senior accounting student Charles Kutzko. “I also really like the fine temperatures in the class and the modern chairs.”
