Mr. Steve Harris has worn many different hats in his 13 years in education.

He started as a substitute teacher in his hometown of Bristol, moved on to being a football coach, and worked in special education at Alcoa and Farragut.

Mr. Harris has brought that diverse background of experiences to his new job as an administrator at Bearden, working with the junior class this year.

“Everyone’s been awesome,” Mr. Harris said. “Every teacher’s been awesome and willing to help offering any kind of assistance I need.”

Mr. Harris said students have been engaging, coming up and saying hello, and starting conversations. 

“Everything’s been really great, and I feel like I’ve been welcomed into the family,” Mr. Harris said.

Mr. Harris got his undergrad at ETSU in special education. 

After graduating, Mr. Harris began working in special education at Farragut for a year; after that, he moved to Alcoa High School where he coached football. In his time there, they won three state championships. Following Mr. Harris’s time at Alcoa, he moved back to Farragut and taught and coached there until this year.

After working at a middle school and an elementary school being a teacher’s assistant, Mr. Harris said he really enjoyed teaching the high school age group. 

“I feel like I relate to them pretty well, and I like watching teenagers grow into young adults and help them make decisions about their pathway and explore the future,” Mr. Harris said. 

As an administrator at a school implementing the academy system, that will become an even more prominent part of his job. The academy system is new to everyone at Bearden as well as Mr. Harris, and he is excited to learn more about it and see where it goes next year and the years after.

“With this new program, you get to see young adults choose the path they want to take for their future and help guide them with it as they make some of their goals come true,” Mr. Harris said. 

“You get to really see where life is going to take these young people.”