Mr. Galan is definitely one of the most cherished teachers here at Lively. He’s been at Lively for twenty-seven years, longer than any other teacher or AP currently at Lively; and his effort and work ethic has only strengthened throughout the years. Today, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Galan about his experience here at Lively, and have him answer questions I’m sure both students and staff members are curious about.
What is your position here at Lively?
I teach the magnet Law elective, so I get the opportunity to teach 6th grade Intro to Law. I also teach the 6th and 7th grade mixed class Mock Trial where we go to a courtroom and do trials.
Where did you go to school? What is your degree in?
I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, in 1997, and my degree was a bachelor’s in arts and government.
Why do you teach what you teach?
I ended up getting the classes from the original creators of the magnet program. The original teacher eventually left the school and asked if I would like to teach these classes. So, over the years I’ve taken them on, I got Intro to Law in 2005 and I started teaching Mock Trial in 2010.
What subjects have you taught other than law, if any?
I actually started out as a Social Studies teacher, I didn’t even teach the law classes for the first few years. My main classes were 6th grade World Cultures, and I taught that for many, many years. I really enjoyed doing that class. I also taught a politics class, I even taught a space elective, believe it or not, it was one of my first two years of teaching that I taught a class by the name of Space and Beyond.
Why do you teach?
I really enjoy learning myself, I think that’s one of the biggest draws to me. I’m always learning. I’m always learning about the subject matter I teach, I’m always learning about law, I enjoy just figuring things out. I think the fact that I consider myself a lifelong learner is one of the reasons why I really enjoy teaching in a classroom. I’ve done it for 27 years, so clearly there’s some joy that I find in it. In addition to that, I also enjoy the coaching aspect of what I do, I think that’s really kept me in teaching for as many years.
How long have you been coaching sports?
I have coached sports since the first day that I’ve been here, when I started in August of 1998. Football was the one thing that I did since the beginning of my teaching career, up until 2018, I did not coach that year. So, of my 27 years, I’ve coached football for 26. All the others I’ve done for at least 20 years, except for track, I think I’ve done that for 3 years.
What is your favorite sport to coach? Football, Basketball, Track?
I love football. I love watching it and participating in it, it’s actually my favorite sport. But, I actually like to coach basketball more, for lots of different reasons. It’s a faster-paced game, you’re on offense and defense almost instantaneously. It’s a very finesse game. And, so that’s about the sport itself but there’s other reasons that I like coaching it more. 1. It’s indoors so there’s no outside hot weather, 2. there’s not as much equipment, so it’s easy to get equipment out for basketball. But, I love football and I love coaching basketball way more.
What is your favorite part about teaching? Least favorite?
Least favorite is watching kids leave the school that were really awesome, it’s always the saddest part. You get to know them over the course of three years, as 6th graders and then they walk out of here as 8th graders. It’s always sad to realize that I’m not gonna see them on a daily basis, some visit and some don’t, they disappear out of your life forever, some stick around at least for a few years and eventually they move on with their life. That’s really the most difficult part about it. My favorite part about teaching, and
what I like about it, is that the classes and the day are never the same. Everyday is a challenge and a new thing, it’s not static, it’s not boring. New classes, every hour and a half, new classes every day, new classes every semester, it’s constantly moving and brand new and so that makes teaching really good.
Why did you decide to teach here at Lively?
I interviewed at two schools. It was either teach here, which at the time was Fulmore Middle School, or Webb Middle school. Needless to say, I’m very, very glad I ended up here. I was able to teach some fantastic classes. I got into Law and Humanities magnet, and it really took my teaching career in a totally different path. I can’t imagine not having been at this school, I can’t imagine what my life would be like at Webb, or if I’d still be at Webb, if I’d still be teaching at all. I think being at this campus has really allowed me to really appreciate teaching.
What do you love about Lively?
I like its location. I really wish the school building itself would be a little more modern, but honestly the character that the old building feel has is actually pretty cool. Yes, do I wish that things looked a little bit different and the rooms were a little newer, of course, I mean we would all like the new big beautiful rooms. But honestly, I think the old school character, the way it looks, the layout of the school building, and definitely its location. On South Congress, near downtown, it’s beneficial and helps us get to the courthouses, it’s a great location.
What’s kept you here for so long?
The fact that it’s been different, honestly. People ask me that all the time, “Why have you been here for 26+ years?” And, the simple answer is that it’s been different. What I did to start my career in August of 1998, to what I started doing in this school year in August of 2024, is nowhere near the same. I have totally different types of students, totally different classes, totally different people that I’ve worked with, obviously the students change over. It’s just an amazing amount of change that has happened. Yes, it’s the same building, location and drive, but once I walk into this building what happens on a day to day basis is insanely different, and that’s what’s really kept me here for 26+ years. And, I’ll also say what’s kept me here is coaching. Coaching has really let me see students in a totally different light. I really enjoy the fact that I can do the sports after school, because kids really wanna be there, they really want to play the sports that they’re there for. So, football, basketball, track. I’ve been very lucky to be in classes and coaching positions where kids really want to participate.
What is your favorite memory from your time at Lively?
I would say my favorite memory has always been things like, believe it or not, not related to my class. We did teachers vs students basketball game, and those were always a lot of fun. It brings the school together, and is usually at the end of school, but it’s always a lot of fun to get the kids and teachers all together.
Is there a story you’d like to share about your time here at Lively?
One day, Austin was going through some tornadoes. The tornadoes happened right as school was about to let out. It was kind of a hard moment to figure out what was going on, the school buses delayed leaving and we had a lot of kids here. The weather was terrible and there were tornadoes right around Mendez Middle School. We ended up staying here close to 8’o clock, and we had to keep kids in place, parents couldn’t come get them so there were a lot of us in the big gym. The bad weather lasted a long time and the power went out. Me and some of the teachers at the time ended up gathering supplies we could get and it was interesting to come through this building in complete pitch darkness. It reminded me of being in a movie of some kind. The tornado never hit here in this neighborhood, but it was to the south of us. It was an interesting moment to live through with the kids and to have them here until 7 or 8 at night was also pretty surreal, it was about the time their parents figured out where they were. I think the day of the tornado while we were here was interesting.
From your time here, how do you think Lively has progressed over the years?
“From the time that I started we were not a magnet school, we didn’t get the magnet until 2001 so we’ve changed as a school. I also think that we have really embraced a lot of students here whether they’re magnet students, neighborhood students, or students who transfer in and wanna come to this school. I think there’s been a good effort to try to get a lot of different types of students here. I think our progress is also a little different in the sense that we’ve tried to get teachers that I feel are qualified to teach what they’re teaching.”
What inspires you?
I think the biggest inspiration overall in life for me was my dad. My dad was the one that kind of inspired me to be a teacher. I saw him as a teacher, he wasn’t formerly a teacher, but he was very involved in our church and teaching kids in Sunday school and things like that. So, I think he’s one of the biggest inspirations that I have.
What are some of your hobbies?
Believe it or not, I actually collect stuff. For example, I collected coins. I don’t have a lot of complicated hobbies because mentally it’s nice not to do anything when you’re not teaching or anything like that. I do like traveling to small towns. I would like to travel out a little bit more, I just haven’t had the time to do that. I like doing day trips because to me it’s just exciting, it doesn’t take a lot of effort but you do get out of your element. That’s about where I land right now as far as hobbies are concerned. Spending time with my boys, and helping them out in life I think is where a lot of my time goes.
What’s a tip you’d give to your students?
I would say find what you love, always keep learning, never stop trying to do the thing that you like, and to me I think that’s probably the best piece of advice. Secondly, don’t put things off. As a 51-year old who has the benefit of life to look back on, I would say there were things that I put off and I regret doing that. You think time is gonna be forever but it goes a lot faster than you realize.
If you could take your students on a field trip anywhere in the world, where would you take them and why?
I guess I would say Washington DC, even though I have taken kids there. It was such a blast, I just wish we had more time. We did not get to see everything, I would love to go to the houses of congress, love to go on a white house tour, love to take them to the supreme court. There’s just so much you could do in Washington DC.
If you could enroll in another teacher’s class at Lively, what class would you take?
I love science and I think Ms. Warrix’s class would be really good, I like the topic. I think mathwise, Ms. Twining would be a really good class to be in, along with Ms. Washington. I think Ms. Everett’s class too, I think journalism would be good, I’ve always loved journalism.
What do you see yourself doing after Lively?
Honestly, 27 years in, pretty close to retirement, I don’t. I don’t see myself doing anything after Lively. I really don’t, I can’t. I’ve actually thought about this question, I can’t see myself doing anything outside of Lively, which is a little bit scary. I do want the next act, I want to figure it out and I need to figure it out soon. But right now, I can’t see myself outside of teaching. But here’s what I would like to do: Do some level of consulting for mock trial teams or even start mock trial programs at other schools depending who’d want them. So, that’s something I’ve considered doing. I kind of want to stay involved in it because it’s just a lot of fun for me. One thing I do know is that I will probably step away from education for a while, just to get another aspect of life. My goal is 30 years, and that matches up with my son who would be graduating high school around that time. So I see myself going at least that long and then after that I would like to see what else is out there.
Uplifting, fun, nice, and patient are few of the many adjectives that the students who nominated Mr. Galan for this teacher spotlight would use to describe him. And, after interviewing him, it’s clear that it’s true. His time as a teacher here at Lively and experiencing the growth of our school for himself has only made him a more valuable asset to Lively, and like many of his students say, a better storyteller.
