SAN ANTONIO — Marty McGrath is a rare sight, not only at Fort Sam Houston ISD but across the country too. McGrath teaches Kindergarten.
KENS 5 Anchor Sarah Forgany sat down with the teacher who shared how he juggles two jobs that couldn’t be more different, plus the big shift in his life that landed him in a classroom making him among a few in the country.
Marty McGrath isn’t afraid to shake things up in his Kindergarten classroom. Watching him, you can tell he’s in his element.
“I love it,” McGrath said, “being goofy and silly with the kids.”
It’s just one of the reasons he is one of a kind at Fort Sam Houston Elementary, “Guess what he does? Guess what he does. Guess what he does,” McGrath said recalling his many conversations with people when they find out what he does for a living, "He's a kindergarten teacher. They're always floored by that."
McGrath is a rarity. Men makeup just 3% of early childhood educators nationwide according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"You don't see a lot of male kindergarten teachers,” Sarah Forgany said. McGrath chimed in with laughter “Yeah and I’m not as cutesy as most kindergarten teachers are, you can see in my room.”
Despite downplaying it, McGrath’s class is vibrant and has interesting elements at every corner. Most of his décor is placed with intention and purpose, carrying a lesson for his students.
"I try to bring in my love of Star Wars, which the kids all love, and, my love of sports, which I want to instill in them, and my love of books."
He admits keeping the little ones learning and entertained is no easy task, though he recalls his crowd back in the day taught him a few things. Before coming to San Antonio, McGrath worked as the General Manager of a Live Music Venue in Dallas.
"I had Dolly Parton, Vince Gill back, pretty much, you name it, we had it.”
After two decades, he left that life behind when his family moved to the Alamo City and he stumbled upon an opportunity to teach here. McGrath says he immediately fell in love.
"I like treating kids with respect, and then encouraging their independence,” realizing his much younger audience is his true calling McGrath said, “Partly because I have a 25 year old brain in a 50 year old body.”
That 50 year old has been teaching Kindergarten for 10 years now, and that’s not all he does.
His other job at Fort Sam Houston ISD couldn’t be more different. He coaches the swimming and diving team at Cole High School, "I project myself differently as a high school coach, as I do as a kindergarten teacher."
Communicating with high schoolers requires him to put on a different hat, a completely different thought process McGrath said.
“Come at them a little bit differently, like what are my experiences? What do I remember from going through adolescence?”
The best part he says is when the best of both worlds merge and his high schoolers come down to his kindergarten classroom and volunteer to help the little ones with seasonal projects.
"It's definitely a proud papa moment,” McGrath said.
KENS 5 honors exemplary teachers from 19 school districts every school year with the KEN 5 EXCEL Award.
This is the KENS 5 EXCEL Awards 25th years partnering with Credit Human to honor local teachers. If you’d like to watch past winners, click on kens5.com/EXCEL.