Like every school year, Liberty’s has gained new teachers. Among the 10 new teachers is Mr. Purcell, teaching Algebra I, Algebra Strategies, and Formal Geometry.

Though this might be Mr. Purcell’s first year at Liberty, it isn’t his first teaching experience. He taught for 10 years at Marquette and one year at Fort Zumwalt North. This isn’t even his first year at Liberty. Last year he helped coach football and basketball. Coach Sodemann and McMillen introduced Purcell to Liberty and he loved the community here.

“Liberty is very close knit, like a family, and I liked that feeling,” Purcell said. “The community that Dr. Nelson has here is amazing and I wanted to be part of it.”

When asked what his inspiration for teaching was, he went back to the days when he was a student.

“I had this one math teacher in high school that made everything click and I started to enjoy math,” Purcell said. He also says that he wants to help students find the love he has for math.

Although he may be new, Purcell’s students have taken a liking to him.

“He is indeed a fun teacher – he jokes around quite a bit,” says freshmen Kayla Kroehnke. She adds on mentioning that he’s very helpful when reviewing for things like tests and quizzes.

Every teacher has something that they want their students to get out of their teaching, so what is Mr. Purcell’s goal? He says he wants his students to walk away to enjoying math and life lessons.