Marcus is currently in his tenth year as a public high school English teacher. He currently teaches 10th grade English and AP Literature in Keizer, OR, but he spent his first eight years teaching in rural Arkansas, where he was recognized as a regional finalist for Arkansas Teacher of the Year in 2019. Marcus knew that he wanted to spend his career as a public school teacher ever since his 5th grade teacher Mrs. Walker envisioned that path for him—with so many teachers, coaches, and mentors (and now more than anything the students themselves!) having reaffirmed the rightness of that career choice ever since Mrs. Walker’s proclamation. When he’s not chasing around his two-year-old son and grading essays, Marcus is a part of the Professional Development podcast, where he chats with other teachers about education from the teacher-centered perspective.