Welcoming Mr. McBreen to Hamburg Area High School

On December 18, 2018, Hamburg Area High School received a new history teacher, Mr. McBreen. In Room 14, he takes over for Mr. Buggy, who is now the assistant principal. When first arriving to Hamburg, Mr. McBreen thought that “the students appear to be very hard working. They appear to want to do well. I think it’s a very nice school where it offers an environment where kids want to learn. I think it’s a very positive environment and enjoyable.”

Before Mr. McBreen came to Hamburg to become a history teacher, he went to high school and college. Graduating from Minersville High School in 2013, he went to West Chester University for his undergrad to become a chiropractor. Moving into his junior year at West Chester, he changed his major to earn his history degree.

Once he earned his undergraduate degree, he went to Kutztown University to receive a masters in education and earn his teaching certification. From there, he did his student teaching at Dieruff High School in Allentown. Including his student teaching, all of last year, he was substituting for teachers all over Schuylkill County.

Along with teaching here at Hamburg, Mr. McBreen also plans on coaching for the Hamburg High School football next season. He also coaches basketball at Minersville.

One might ask how to become a Hamburg teacher. Mr. McBreen gives detail of how he became a history teacher here. First, he had to fill out an online application that took him about a week to finish due to waiting for some paperwork to finish finalizing for the application. About a day or two after he submitted the application, he received an email with time slots for him to come into the school and take an interview.

A week after he was interviewed, he was invited back to come in to the school and meet with Dr. Mextorf, our superintendent. The following Monday after speaking with Dr. Mextorf, the Hamburg School Board approved him. The next day, he was an official Hamburg High School history teacher, teaching in Room 14. He finished his student teaching on December 13, graduated from school on December 15, and started his job here on December 18. Those are some quick transitions!

After working here at Hamburg Area High School for about a month and a half, Mr. McBreen still believes Hamburg to be a great school with great students and teachers attending. “I think there is a lot of opportunity for kids to succeed. I think the teachers really care about the students and want to see them do well. And I just think it is a very nice school. The motivation of the kids is impressive and I look forward to being here for the rest of the year.” Let us keep Mr. McBreen welcomed throughout the school year.