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Dane Stiles: Teacher Spotlight

March 08, 2022

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We have another March 8th birthday to celebrate today, Mr. Dane Stiles! Happy birthday, Coach!

Mr. Stiles teaches High School Social Studies for us here at Putnam. A big joy for Mr. Stiles is serving as a coach. He is an assistant high school football coach, assistant junior high boys' basketball and track coach. 

Mr. Stiles tells us about what inspired him to pursue a career in education: "It's a mix between my family history in education, love for history in general, and my former football coach, Coach Croy, who supported my aspirations to coach. There is nothing better than being allowed to have a career teaching history and coaching football." 

"I have had an unusual path through life so far. I attended both Kirksville and Trenton schools. I graduated high school from Trenton then attended North Central Missouri College. For some reason I then joined the Missouri National Guard and spent much of the next six years training, helping with state emergencies, or on deployment. I attended Northwest Missouri State University after I finished my military career. After what felt like the fastest two years of my life, I graduated from Northwest and feel blessed to have the opportunity to begin both my teaching and coaching careers in Putnam County."

We asked Dane to tell us a little more about himself. Here's what he had to say: "Well most of my family have a military background. This led me to have an interest in the history of warfare and even more recently, studying how people have fought or adapted to conflicts throughout history. I am also a huge college football fan, so most Saturdays in the Fall I'll likely be found watching a variety of football games. I have too many favorite quotes or books to declare any as a favorite but at the moment any book by Joe Abercrombie would make my list. For quotes, I would have to go with "Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than to live with the fear of it."

This is Coach Stiles' first year here at Putnam County as a teacher and a coach. He served as a substitute and coach for several schools in Northern Missouri before landing at Putnam. 

Happy birthday, Coach Stiles! We are so glad you're on our team!

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