History becomes ironic for Scott Glossner as the Seneca High School history teacher ends his tenure in the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) as both a teacher and former student.
Glossner was part of Cherokee High School’s first graduating class in 1975. In 2003, he opened Seneca High School with other colleagues and became the school’s first history teacher. In 2005, the golf team he birthed won the school’s first championship title.
Glossner carved out for himself a spot in the district’s 20-plus year history, having lived through its various milestones. Now he’s ready to sit back and swing a golf club or two come July in South Carolina.
Glossmer said teaching was not a primary option for him, despite falling in love with history while at Cherokee. He worked in the appliance business for several years before heading back to college to get his degree and began teaching at his alma mater in 1999, then later at Seneca.
“It’s two-fold,” he commented. “The students have been awesome from not only the athletes I’ve coached but also the kids that I know over the years. It makes the job.
“I like all of my colleagues and have been lucky with the people I’ve worked with.”
A former high school wrestler, Glossner said he coached at Evesham’s DeMasi Middle School program before transferring to Cherokee.
“When I had the chance to start a new program in a new school, it was a great opportunity,” he remembered fondly. “Having been a student who started a brand new school in 1975 in the district, to then being a teacher to open a new school almost 30 years later, that’s pretty awesome.”
Through his 21 years of teaching history, Glossner said his students kept the same level of enthusiasm and wonder as the classes before them. For him, the best part is teaching modern events or having students relate to topics.
From an overhead projector to PowerPoints, he has held students’ interest in history by having them relate to modern-day events such as 9/11 and imagine what they might have done to alter that history.
“It’s hard in some instances such as with World War II,” he said with a sigh. “We’re going to be going into Pearl Harbor and for the people of that generation, it’s … wow. Even with this generation, even though they weren’t all around, they still remember what Sept. 11 was like and it’s taught every year.”
Met with jokes from students about being old or a product of the Great Depression, Glossner loves to have students reach their “I get it!” moments and fall in love with what’s being talked about, inside and outside of the classroom.
Through planning his move to North Myrtle Beach in the summer, Glossner joked his most unique experience at the high school was when his daughter was attending and he made a distinctive appearance in her homeroom — in a cheerleading outfit.
“I got [the teachers] to do the ‘Seneca Shimmy,’ which is a dance the cheerleaders and student body does at games,” he recalled with a laugh. “That was probably the worst thing I ever did.”
Glossner offered help to students and golf players during his employment at the Golden Pheasant Golf Club and linked them to other nearby resources to improve their skills in the sport or find a part-time job.
What’s impressed him the most about Seneca is the passionate way colleagues push students to become better in and outside of the classroom and the school’s overwhelming administrative support.
Teaching, for Glossner, is a tough profession to leave, so he hopes to find substitute opportunities in South Carolina to inspire more students. Education is fulfilling and has “kept him young,” he related.
With the second half of the school year started, Glossner joked he’s only been to two Seneca graduations: the school’s first full one in 2005 and his daughter’s 2013 graduation. He jokingly told students he wouldn’t attend another, knowing the next one he attends will be his last.
“I wanted to keep them guessing, but I will be at this year’s graduation,” he laughed. “It’s not about me, it’s about them. I have to be there to see my last class of graduates. Many of them I’ve known since living in Tabernacle in 2000.“
