The Golden Trident

By Kieran Ambrose

“So were you interested in history as a kid and young adult?” 

“Sure I wasn’t. I was talking about ancient Greece, earlier but I hated that stuff as a kid. I just gave a speech in my last hour about how they’re not going to remember a word I say, but they will remember the discussions and debates that we have. They’re gonna remember what each other has to say. So no, I don’t remember much at all about history in high school.”

Samuel Irving has been teaching for almost 20 years. Eight of those have been at Golden. Before teaching, he got his undergraduate degree in history and philosophy from the University of Illinois, he then got his master’s in history from CU Denver.  

“I love the content of teaching and that’s what got me into teaching history, not a love of teaching but more of a love for what I do.” The average student may not enjoy history as much as Irving does, but that’s okay because we don’t need everyone to become a history teacher. They just need to understand history and civics in a basic way to make informed choices. 

What the largest changes are that he has seen, and specifically any concerning things like behavioral changes? Irving then said two things happen, “That’s tough because two things are happening at the same time, society and kids, they’re all growing up and changing. At the same time, I’m turning into a cranky old man.”  

As he gets older he keeps getting kids that are in a specific age group so it’s natural to feel farther and farther disconnected from the youth. This makes Irving and likely other teachers feel less relatability to their students and what their lives are like. 

“One thing about Golden students, and this is coming from a teacher who’s taught at many different schools, Golden kids are exceptionally kind.” 

Irving did say there is one issue that comes into play with teaching upperclassmen, which is that lots of them feel, and maybe rightfully so, that they don’t need to try hard in history or other subjects because they have plans that don’t involve school. When asked what Irving likes and dislikes about teaching high schoolers, he said that he likes that he teaches mainly upperclassmen. This is positive in his opinion as he gets to teach students who are becoming young adults. 

That age is a time of change and maturing for most people, making it unique to have students who are finally coming into their own. He also likes to talk to students about what they plan to do after high school but. On the other hand, they are no longer children and can make their own choices so, if they choose not to do their work it’s not on their teachers to carry them kicking and screaming over the finish line. 

 “Some of these students are like ‘Hey, I don’t care about history, I want to be a mechanic’ and it’s tough for me to say anything. I think it’s important to have these skills but because the reality is that my class is not central to their future, and they’ve got a nice career mapped out. They’re gonna make better money than me, and they’re doing things like Warren Tech to get there. So it’s them being adults that excites me to talk with them about how they’ve got these plans.” 

Irving became interested in history in college, where he started to form a major interest in things like German history, Russian history, and philosophy.

He also teaches economics and thinks it should be a prerequisite for graduation. 

“I think you know economics is much easier for me to convince any student that this matters because these are forces surrounding you. You are subject to economic forces like it or not. You gotta feed yourself and the ups and the downs of our economy will impact you significantly, no matter who you are.” Some of the aspects of economics such as theories may be complex but are still fundamental knowledge.

Critical thinking skills that are learned in history and economics help students make economic and political choices wisely, Irving believes. Even if you resent politics, you are still a part of our democracy and have the right to participate. Important basic skills like these are integral to making good choices in life. He also preached the importance of understanding that all sources are biased and need to have many sources, especially in history, because believe it or not politics aren’t a new thing and there have always been two sides to each story. 

“But history is unique. You really gotta be discerning with your sources. Be thoughtful in the way that you interpret and come to your decisions. So both history and economics are really in the service of the future, right?”

Irving says that he could spend the rest of his career being in what he is currently teaching, but he also would love to create a class like philosophy here at Golden, though he thinks that would be a tenuous process. Even if he could create a philosophy class, he thinks it would be hard to make it not feel overwhelming to his students.

”I have a philosophy degree. Philosophy fascinates me, I guess, about every couple of years. I always think, what if they had a philosophy class here? I don’t know if they ever would. I think if I pushed it, they would let me teach it. But I also know I would struggle and right now in my mind I’m like how could I find a way to make it engaging without being overwhelming.” 

On a personal note, Irving is interested in hair metal, which may now be a somewhat forgotten genre, served as what punk pop music was to punk, that being a terrible evolution into overused sounds stripping any value the genre once had. So the one thing he wanted to do for the vast majority of his life. 

“You know I like playing music for sure. I still do that as a hobby and for the bulk of my life at any point in my life, I would have dropped everything to have supported a band and gone on tour. I would say, about eight years ago, it just hit out of nowhere.” 

Instead of having some dream to be in a band, he realized what fulfilled him was his family and spending time with them. He no longer needed that to make him feel complete. This is a sentiment I’m sure lots of people feel when starting a family.