LIGON Magnet Middle-Product Design

When your former students text you to come and play Pickleball at Pinpoint (as their Guest), there is no way that can’t make you feel awesome! They were also in the Pickleball Club at Ligon.

Thank you to James, Raymond and John for getting in touch with me! James and Raymond are at Enloe now and John is almost done with 8th grade at Ligon (and today was John’s 14th birthday)!

It’s nice for an old Coach and Teacher to be remembered! 😃😃😃

This will be my last post of 2025 (and probably the last post on this page). Have a fantastic holiday season and a great rest of the academic year. All the best, Mr. Talley

Yeah, I’m proud of it. I won the Media Center’s Turkey drawing/decorating contest last year. Obviously, I’ve never shown it to Snoop but I think he would dig it. He’s got the microphone , the Dog Bone, some jewelry and some $$$. 😜

“Snoop Turkey Lurkey” for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!

For the past three years, I have missed so many things (mostly because of insane hours at work), like birthday parties, events at NCSU, performances, evenings out with friends, etc.

Well, two major events happened at NCSU (my alma mater) this fall and I was NOT going to miss them.

1. The 10 Year Anniversary of the Talley Student Union (which was named after my Dad after a lifetime of service to NC State University). He served through multiple Chancellors and raised countless dollars for Arts NCState.

2. The installation of Kevin Howell as the 15th Chancellor of the University. Kevin served as the Student Body President in 1988 (and I remember all of us campaigning for him on campus). This was during the Reagan/Bush era and Kevin’s victory was a bright spot for those of us that supported him. It was a historic moment.

Both events were fun and exciting and I was glad to be back on campus again! Go Pack! 🐺

Never forget your school(s) my friends (all of them)! Give back when and if you can!

NCSU ‘92, ‘96 and MID ‘02

Mr. Talley is living life, going to the NC State Fair, walking Darkside Haunted Estates, going to Blowing Rock, grilling in the backyard but ALWAYS missing his life as a teacher. Stay strong my students! 😃🤘

I miss you all and I hope you are well! Stay in touch! My email is: [email protected]

So, there I was riding my Razor Scooter home from the Y (after 2+ hours of Pickleball) and I started thinking about something one of my students said to me last year. She said, “You know our generation Mr. Talley, if we don’t like the look of something, we just walk away from it. We won’t do it!” At the time, I pondered that statement and then asked that particular student if she had ever tried Sushi. Her reply: “No, it looks disgusting!”

I asked her if she would (at least) TRY some Sushi at the end of the year. She said, “Yes” as long as I would try to listen to more “new” music. Well, we both learned from each other. I have now listened to a lot of Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Charli xcx, and countless others. For her part, she actually tried California Roll and said, “This is good but it’s even better with the Soy Sauce and the Wasbi!”

If I tried to teach my students anything at Ligon, it was to NEVER be afraid of new experiences. Always question things…Yes..but don’t let that skepticism close you off to something that might otherwise enrich your life. The whole point of what I was teaching in Room 6204, was to develop the “critical eye,” think outside of the box, don’t be afraid to pick the unpopular path, it’s okay to be weird and (finally) don’t be afraid to fail.

And yes, a middle aged person CAN ride a Razor Scooter. I just make sure to wear a helmet now. 😃😜

Fly Fishing on the Linville River, Sunday of Labor Day weekend with my friend Brooks Mayson. I caught 17 fish and had a blast. It was great just being outdoors!

Mr. Talley is playing a lot of Pickleball (at Alexander Y), spending all of the multitudinous gift cards he was given last year and missing his room and his students at Ligon. Stay strong Little Blues!

Mr. Talley will be Fly Fishing this Fall if you need him. Probably in the NC Mountains or in a nearby river. 😃🤘

Or you can Email him at [email protected]

Rewind! 2024-2025 Academic Year. My budding Engineers, Architects and Designers got busy building their Spaghetti Marshmallow Towers in a frenzied competition!

It was a crazy and emotional week at Ligon BUT the outpouring of affection meant a great deal to me. First and foremost, I want to thank ALL of my students and their families for the notes, cards, gifts and kind words that they delivered to my room and mailbox. THANK YOU!

I always try to put “students first” and to make sure that I listen more than just spout random words. The students at Ligon made me a better teacher. They challenged me frequently, (yes) they annoyed me (sometimes) too, they made me laugh and (most of all) they asked hundreds of questions about product design, architecture, engineering, portfolios, etc (and I loved answering them).

The 6th and 7th Awards Ceremonies were awesome and it was good to see the students get recognized for their hard work. The 8th Grade “Moving On Up” Ceremony was a happy time for me for so many reasons (especially seeing my own 8th grader move to High School). So many of the 8th Graders discovered a career path that they didn’t know about through CTE (which is the whole point of electives anyway). Go DESIGN!

I wish everyone the very BEST in the future! Please stay in touch and remember to download any photos you need from this FB page!

Thank you again,

Mr. Talley

Almost done and when I turn in my Keys and ID tomorrow it will hit me hard. The 6th and 7th Grade Awards ceremonies are done and I said goodbye to some (but not all) of my students and colleagues. And yeah, my car is usually the last one in the lot. 😜🙄😉