Among those educators who have stepped away with the start of summer is a history teacher of 30 years who’s spent all of them at Columbia High School, having brought a unique twist to the curriculum while striving to bring positivity to each day.

Though his teaching career had him in Columbia, Tim Gagen has always lived in Belleville.

Gagen’s work as a teacher, as he recounted, was largely a matter of circumstances. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he worked at KSDK Channel 5 for seven years as a sports producer.

His work there kept him uncomfortably busy as he was away from home from 2-10 p.m. just about every day of every week, so he opted to pursue a career that would afford him a schedule more in-line with having a family.

He got a nudge toward teaching thanks to his father’s background.

“My wife and I had just started a family, and it just wasn’t something I wanted to do my entire life,” Gagen said. “My father was a teacher for 45 years, and I always had an interest in history. I think it was something that was, in a sense, meant to be. I started teaching at Columbia and going back to school, and I never looked back.”

Gagen earned his teaching requirements at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, finding himself working in Columbia at age 29.

The vast majority of his career has been focused on high school social studies, though he noted he jumped into English education for a few years when needed, ultimately being quite pleased to return to teaching social studies with an emphasis on American history.

Gagen said he also dabbled in a few other subjects over the years, from psych to current events as well as the history of American music.

Looking back, he noted there wasn’t any major memory that came to mind when it came to his time in the classroom.

He simply reflected on his career positively as it was filled with fond moments among students and colleagues. Gagen also noted his appreciation for the support he received from the district and community.

“Teaching is like anything else. It’s an up-and-down career, but as you reflect back on it, you remember the highs and not the rare lows,” Gagen said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to teach in a very nice community with good people and strong support for their teachers. My fellow teachers and administration have always been very supportive.”

One aspect of his career at CHS that he discussed was the major change to the history curriculum he suggested to the school board, receiving their approval to teach American history backwards, focusing on more recent history to begin with and leaving the American Revolution and colonial history for the end of the class.

“The general idea behind it is, after we normally would get to World War II, we really don’t get to anything else,” Gagen said. “We don’t get to Vietnam, we don’t get to the Cold War, and my philosophy was we need to get to some of those things that are very applicable in our world today. Administration approved it, and that really changed kind of the scope of what I was doing, basically starting with 9/11 and working our way backwards. And we never got back all the way, as far as we wanted to, but I think the kids were more interested in it. I think it was a little more pertinent for them.”

While the adjustment to his lessons was something of a highlight during his tenure, Gagen also touched on some of the difficulties that came with teaching over the years, noting how the ubiquity of phones in the classroom has become a major hassle for education that’s exceptionally difficult for teachers to handle in the day-to-day.

Though it wasn’t his initial career choice, Gagen also spoke about his passion for teaching, remarking on the importance of students having a good grasp on their nation’s history.

“I just think history is more and more important that people understand it, and I tried not to be political in my class and take sides,” Gagen said. “I tried to teach from a very middle-of-the-road standpoint, which isn’t always easy. But I feel like I did a pretty decent job. History is a collection of facts, and as long as you teach factual information, you should be OK, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Throughout his career, he strived to keep things positive for himself and his class, with his last few years featuring the especially positive memory of playing in a band called Teachers with Attitude, he and some of his peers entertaining at school assemblies.

That positivity came thanks to the advice of a former colleague.

“Dale Huwer, who was a good friend of mine, told me a very long time ago, ‘Have fun,’” Gagen said. “‘Smile. Have fun. Enjoy teaching because you’re supposed to enjoy your job,’ and that was probably the best piece of advice I ever got. No matter how frustrated you get at times, just try to enjoy it.”

Two of Gagen’s similarly CHS-retired colleagues offered their commendations, having worked alongside him for some years.

Linda Malone remarked on how familiar Gagen was with his students as he got to know them well. She also commented on his involvement in a number of committees, the positivity he brought with his musical performances and his willingness to assist his peers whenever he could.

“Tim was great with students,” Malone said. “He would always know everything about them. He could greet every student in the morning. As far as faculty, Tim was great about helping all of us.”

Joe Iorio also had kind words for Gagen, emphasizing how his lessons were focused on getting his students ready for the world.

“I think Tim always had his heart in the right place,” Iorio said. “Cared a lot about giving them the right information when it came to government, how things are in the big world when they get out on their own and how to think on their own. I just think he did a good job preparing kids for college, and the ones that didn’t go to college, he prepared them for things down the road that they could use every day.”

As he begins retirement, Gagen said he’s looking forward to time with his family as he travels with his wife and is set to become a grandfather this November.

“When you retire, there’s a lot of accolades, and all of that is very appreciated, was very nice, but it was just the day-in, day-out, going to school, trying to have fun, trying to smile, just trying to enjoy my time teaching,” Gagen said. “And looking back, it was great. It was enjoyable.”