Chance Hartz previously taught at Haltom High School for fifteen years before transferring to Paschal. He has been adjusting to the different way that Paschal flows versus how Haltom did.
When asked about what he thinks about his experience at PHS so far, he mentioned that his own children may be coming here soon. Hartz proclaims, “This is where I live now; I grew up in north Fort Worth and this is where my kids will go to school. I have a nine and seven-year-old at Overton Park, and knowing they will go to McLean then here, where I teach, is cool.”
Hartz had much to say about how living in the community where one teaches is important, “As teachers, working in the district where you live [makes] you want to contribute to society, and what better way to do that than to teach the youth of the people that live in your community.”
Haltom High School, where Hartz previously taught, was essentially and humorously located in a “cow field.” Paschal, located by “fifteen fast food restaurants and in the middle of TCU,” is very different from that.
“Geographically, [Paschal] is cool where it’s located. It’s by TCU, and that’s a cool way for students to see firsthand college students being college students from an outside perspective and seeing the next step of their life.”
Hartz has an ongoing tradition of wearing the same shirt every year for picture day. He claims that it started by mistake, “I wore a pink shirt one year, and unknowingly wore the same again the next year; I saw the opportunity to keep it going.”
This friendly teacher wants students to know, “I don’t think it is a super cool thing by any means, I just decided to keep it going.” This year, he forgot to wear the shirt on the assigned picture day, and to avoid breaking the tradition, he waited until make-up day to carry on the pattern.
Hartz, though it is only his first year at Paschal, is already known and well-liked by our Panthers. He is an excellent teacher and his students love his unique way of teaching.
Ryan Dubberly (10) remarks, “Mr. Hartz is great at keeping his lectures interesting and his students engaged.”
Dylan Hunt (10) adds, “He loves talking about his old school, but he is a really good teacher.”
Overall, Hartz has found student life and habits at Paschal to be fairly different from those of Haltom. He is looking forward to making a mark at Paschal as he happily navigates these differences day by day.
