Powers retiring after 30 years at Blackfoot High school

“It’s not succeeding or failing, it’s making the attempt,” Jeffrey Powers said.

 Powers has worked at Blackfoot High school for 30 years and before that in Golva, North Dakota for 3 years. One thing that got him interested in teaching was a “love of learning.”

 As an admirer of the sciences, Powers has taught every single science that is available in high school.

  “[My favorite science] is botany because that’s what I have a degree in,” Powers said.

  For 18 years, Powers ran the clocks for volleyball, basketball and football. He also was a head of a club for a brief three years. The club’s name was the Star Trek Club.

 Before becoming a teacher, he attended St. John’s University where he studied to become a science teacher. He loved the campus and culture that was there. One thing he really liked about the campus was the acres of forest surrounding it. Sometimes his classes would take place out there. He said it was a good learning environment.

 Sometimes it’s hard to make up one’s mind of what they want to be when they grow up. For Powers, he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be a “astronaut or fighter pilot, which will never happen,” he said.

 When he’s not teaching, he is either encompassed in a good book or doing photography.

 “Photography is my biggest hobby right now,” Powers said. “I love the beauty of nature.”

 During his lessons in science, tells his students that all the pictures on the slides, or otherwise indicated, were his that he took.

 As a teacher, you gain some wonderful and maybe not so wonderful experiences. For Powers, he said he’s loved it.

 “I’ll never forget the class that threw me a breakfast party for my birthday,” Powers said.

 One of the motto’s Powers lives by is “It’s not whether you succeed or fail, it’s about keeping the faith.”

 Once Powers retires, he will be a full time ministering Deacon of the Catholic Church. As part of his new role in life, he will travel around to different places to teach.

 “I’ll do it until the day I die,” Powers added.