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Each month, we highlight one of our awesome employees so you can get to know the MHED team! This month we spoke with Staffing Specialist Brad Whitsell.

 

Tell us about your family and background.

I grew up in a small town near St. Joseph Missouri and then moved to Maryville, Missouri to attend college and then work at Northwest Missouri State University in residential life. I have my bachelors in Elementary Education and masters in Educational Leadership in Elementary. I moved to Eudora, Kansas when I got married and worked at the University of Kansas in academic advising. My wife, Amanda, is a 1st-grade teacher and I have two girls ages 3 ½ and 1 ½. We are a busy family!

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Because of real little kiddos, I don’t have a lot of hobbies except watching sports. I love watching football and basketball, especially college, and follow both D1 and D2. My girls will be watching a lot of sports this fall! The only other hobby I have is sleeping and relaxing when opportunity allows it.

What is your favorite part about working at MHED?

Now that I am in my second year at MHED, one of my favorite parts is when I get a call or email from a substitute about how great of a day they had teaching. Especially if it was a grade or subject the substitute had never done before. The other part I like is going on school visits to be in the schools and see what is really going on rather than being in an office all the time.

What have been some of your biggest accomplishments in life thus far?

Besides starting a family (of course, that is obvious), one of my biggest accomplishments is finishing the KC Marathon. I have always been a runner, but never thought I would ever run a marathon. I am very glad I did it and can say I will never ever do it again! This was one of my bucket list items that I was able to scratch off. Other items on my bucket list include: owning a home in the country, meet Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, go to Springfield at Universal Studies, own and operate a sports bar, and to regularly sleep eight hours each night.

What is one thing you would like substitute teachers to know about you?

You never have to be sorry if I ask you to sub and you cannot. That is the part of being a substitute teacher I like is you can pick and choose when you want to work. If you don’t or can’t work on a day when we call you that is okay with me! Oh, and also, the best substitute I know of is Mr. Bergstrom who is Lisa Simpsons’ substitute teacher on the episode “Lisa’s Substitute” in Season 4.