Westborough High School English teacher Mr. Perryman never believed school had to be “bad.” This is what motivated him to become a teacher, here at Westborough High School. His humorous and engaging teacher style excites his students. He is even mentioned down at Gibbons Middle School as the teacher to have.

Born in Pensacola, Florida, Mr. Perryman eventually settled in Worcester, Massachusetts. His first job during his teen years was folding pizza boxes for an hour. Although he never got paid, he did get free pizza the next day for lunch. Yet, unfortunately it came to an end when the boss found out he was folding the pizza boxes and not the staff hired.

Mr. Perryman never planned to teach at Westborough. He was in the wine business for a while, but when he became a student teacher one of his colleagues suggested he come to Westborough High School. Ever since Mr. Perryman was little he was surrounded by books. When he went to college and graduate school he successfully earned his degree in English.

If Mr. Perryman wasn’t an English teacher, he wishes he majored in Special Education. This is why when there was an opportunity to teach cooking to the Stride students, he snatched it right up. He always looks forward to seeing this class in the morning.

“It was an unexpected benefit,” he says. And they always have a great time during period one.

Mr. Perryman has one goal in teaching, and that goal is creating a fun and entertaining atmosphere where students can learn and succeed. He always checks in with his students causing them to feel comfortable in his classroom. This then allows them to go to him whenever they need an extra hand in anything. When he was a high school student, he didn’t have a thrilling experience which caused him to dread going to school. He declares that his biggest inspiration is all his bad teachers he had.

Whenever he doesn’t know what to do he always asks himself, “What would this teacher from my high school done? And then I do the opposite.”

Throughout his years of teaching, he never gets tired of being around students. He loves being able to watch students come in as freshmen and then leave as seniors. Even though it can be sad to see the seniors leaving, he always knows there is another class just around the corner eager to learn.

When asked what his favorite part of teaching is, Mr. Perryman replies, “Oh, that’s easy it’s spending time with you guys.”

Ever since Covid began, he misses being able to travel. Although, he is mostly bothered by what Covid has done to high school students. He hates seeing how much students have missed because of the pandemic and how much extra stress is brought on by the uncertainties. He believes that the number of deaths we have had due to covid was avoidable and wishes the government handled everything better at the time.

Mr. Perryman is a dedicated teacher who truly cares about what’s best for his students.

When asked where he sees himself in 10 years he says, “It will probably be my last year here.”