Teacher Tribute: Daniel and Catherine Cortright

Jillian Brookshire, Staff Reporter

 Teaching is not monotonous. In fact, it is an extremely exciting field to work in, and that is why Daniel and Catherine Cortright chose to work as teachers. They were both teaching when they met each other which shows their dedication to teaching students.  The Cortrights met while teaching and living in Alexandria which was many years ago. When describing their meeting, Mr. Cortright said, “We met while teaching at the same school in Virginia. We met at a basketball game. She gave me her number on a little piece of paper, and I still have that paper today. It is now stuck in the frame of our wedding photo.”

 Mr. Cortright said he wanted to become a teacher because his high school PE teacher had a great influence on him. On the other hand, Mrs. Cortright decided to become a teacher after finding working in an office to be too mundane. After that she decided teaching would be perfect for her.

 The Cortrights are both very involved in the life of Millbrook, but they also participate numerous activities outside of school. Mrs. Cortright said, “I work with the Digital Media Career Academy at Millbrook. Outside of school I like to spend time with our two kids, Daniel and Ava, and our two dogs, Kelsey and Maya.”  Mr. Cortright is the assistant coach of the Women’s Varsity Basketball Team and is also on the MLC which is the Millbrook Learning Community that works on discussing ways to improve the school. He is also on  the MTAC, which is the Millbrook Technology Advisory Community that monitors technology integration within the school. Outside of school, he said, “I like to watch football (Go Bills!) and hang out with my family in the backyard. I like to take my son to playgrounds and on nature hikes.”

 Both of the Cortrights love their jobs, but Mrs. Cortright said her favorite part of teaching is “working with the students, finding new ways to help them learn a specific skill, and opening students’ eyes to a new and interesting piece of literature.” Mr. Cortright explains that one of his favorite aspects of teaching is getting to be active, but he also loves that he gets to pass down all of his knowledge to many different students. Sophomore Camden Phoenix testifies to this by saying, “I liked how at the beginning of the year we did a project to introduce ourselves during Health, and he did something about himself too. He was very real with us about his own life.”

 Through the wonderful teaching dedication by both Mr. and Mrs. Cortright, many students have gained not just knowledge from the classroom, but also knowledge about life. They have such a positive impact on our student body, and they will continue to be influential on each and every student with whom they interact.