Mr. Richard Flores originally wanted to pursue a career in computer science, however, he found it to be incredibly boring and anti-social. So he decided to become a teacher instead.
Flores found his true passion for teaching when he saw that one of his professors in college was exceptionally boring. Flores took a step back and told himself he wanted to make teaching exciting and engaging.
” … I get to interact with people once they leave … Being active members of the community,” Flores said about what he enjoys most about teaching.
Not everything has been great though. The most challenging part of his career has also been the most memorable. Distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest roadblocks Mr. Flores and thousands of other teachers have faced. However, he took this bad thing and turned it into a good thing for himself. He set up a mini studio in his classroom for his classes, which was perfect for being a media teacher.
He hated that he couldn’t interact and connect with students directly. Not being able to laugh, joke, or see them was terrible. The anti-social aspect was the reason why he wanted to switch majors and become a teacher. It ended up coming back a few years later.
“I remember coming into class … when we were doing distance learning … in an empty classroom and it was disheartening,” Mr. Flores said.
Born and raised in Porterville, Calif., Mr. Flores is a teacher at Granite Hills High School. He teaches three sections of photography, two sections of video production (GTV), and one section of CODE Computer Systems. This is Mr. Flores’ 7th-year teaching. Flores earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Fresno State and completed the teaching credential program through National University.
Mr. Flores loves practicing his craft of being a photographer in his community. A project he is accomplishing at the moment is taking photos of local school bands. He really enjoys looking at photobooks and analyzing other people’s work.
“The only real thing that I watch on TV is Jeopardy. That’s kind of my church for the day,” Mr. Flores said.
Other than that, he enjoys going on YouTube and browsing videos focused on street photography; it’s great for letting it play in the background while he finishes up various tasks at home. What makes him unique is that he is one of the few teachers that practices his craft outside of the classroom. Mr. Flores has a lot of inspirations, whether it be other photographers such as Vivian Meyer, Joel Myroitz, or even his late father.
Most importantly, Mr. Flores hopes that his students gain inspiration to do what they love. He wishes to be a role model for them. What they do after high school doesn’t have to be aligned with his interests, but as long as they find something they love to do, he feels his job has been done. It is this advice that he gives, do what you love.
Mr. Flores also discusses what he thinks about the future of education, believing there are many challenges to come directly toward the people making the policies. Given his strong history with history and civics, he backed up his opinion with validity. This is why he advises any future aspiring teachers to not let challenges take over who they are. Public schools are supposed to be a safe place for students. Teachers are the people who are the great role models for the future.
In 5-10 years, Mr. Flores sees himself hopefully doing the same thing. He wishes to keep practicing and preaching. He loves teaching and that’s what matters the most to him. If he were not to be a teacher in the future, he hopes that it would be to solely focus on being a photographer full-time.
One quote that Mr. Flores lives by is by Harold Feinstein. Feinstein said, “Keep your eye open, keep your finger on the shutter button; when your jaw drops, you press the shutter.”
This is exactly what Mr. Flores believes photography should be about.