10/31/2025
Nice spotlight and shout out to one of our newest regional mentoring program participants!
Adrian High School's Nathen Marker's Approach to Teaching History: Passion Meets Innovation
ADRIAN – Nathen Marker thought he wanted to be a marine biologist, but his love of history propelled him toward a career in education.
“I love teaching people new things,” he said.
Marker, who joined Adrian High School as a full-time social studies teacher this fall, is not a stranger to Malheur County. Marker said he moved to the local area in 2015 and graduated from Ontario High School. Marker said his father was a math teacher so the education roots in his family are deep.
Marker said he never second guessed his decision to abandon marine biology for education.
“I like talking with students and finding out their method of learning,” he said.
Teaching history, he said, is important.
“I tell the students what happened, and they have to connect it together,” he said.
Marker said one of the pillars to his education philosophy is the value of interacting with students.
“I want them to feel they can voice their opinions. I give them the information, about what happened, and they come up with their own opinions,” he said.
Marker, 25, said he’s already learned an array of valuable lessons regarding education, including the need to persevere.
“When I was younger, I was a little more impatient. Over the years I’ve learned to calm down, take a deep breath,” he said.
Marker said he hopes to build a classroom philosophy that is exciting.
“I want kids to come to learn and have fun in class because I always had fun in my classes. It is important to learn to have fun but also to be able to learn and grow,” he said.
Marker said his classes tend to be interactive.
“We’ve had some fun conversations in my classes. There are no wrong answers in my class. Instead, I want to help my students to understand,” he said.
Marker said he relishes the moment when he sees a student is enthusiastic to learn.
“I love it when I see a student’s eyes light up when I’m teaching certain subjects,” he said.
As a first-year teacher Marker said he’s been fortunate to be able to seek help when needed from other educators at the high school with more experience.
“My co-workers have been super helpful,” he said.
Marker said he feels fortunate to be able to teach at Adrian High School.
“I love getting to know the students and I love history. I can talk about history for hours,” he said.
