It’s rare for a student to leave a classroom and say, “Hey, love you” to the teacher on the way out. But not in Paul Dye’s Sunnyside High School classroom.
In fact, he stands at the door when the bell rings and fist-bumps every one of his math students on the way out.
“I used to shake hands with kids,” Dye said. “Now we fist bump trying to keep those colds down.”
As a student reaches for the hand sanitizer, Dye jokes, “Hey! I told you not to drink that, it’s bad for your eyesight!”
Dye began teaching because he wanted to coach soccer, but this blossomed into a 31-year career at Sunnyside. After teaching more than 5,000 kids, he’s moving on to a new career in photography.
“It’s going to be the most depressing day when he leaves,” says Denise Sanchez, the office assistant for the math department. “He always makes sure everyone gets acknowledged.”
One of his students, Manuel Armas, 18, describes Dye as “hyperactive” and says he “uses humor to get the students’ attention.” Some know Dye as the “banana man” because he used to dress like the bright yellow fruit at pep rallies to fire up the students.
Dye’s use of humor, he says, is to make the students feel comfortable enough to take risks, which will lead to more confident teenagers.
A sign hanging in the classroom reads, “You can stop the bus at anytime,” which reminds students that they have control over much of their lives.
“If students are in control, we never get a Columbine,” Dye says, referring to the shootings at a high school in Colorado in 1999. “I try to give them autonomy. The more they have control and autonomy, the more they accept responsibility.”
Accepting responsibility, for Dye, means working together to find a solution instead of placing blame. And working together to solve problems strengthens all kinds of relationships. He even has dollar bills, a page of a calendar and coins taped to the board to help students visualize Dye’s cell phone number whenever they need him.
Another sign hanging in the classroom reads, “Add value to someone else’s life every single day.”
This reflects his larger philosophy: “The greatest gains to be made in realizing society’s potential,” he says, “lies in enhancing our own ability to see the genuine good in others.”
To begin to find that good in his students, Dye learns the names of every student on the first day of school and tells them they can expect him to be enthusiastic, energetic, positive and human.
His personal approach with students and unconventional teaching methods are purposeful. “I wear a tie so I look traditional, so that I can be anything but traditional,” says Dye.
And now Dye is moving on to another unconventional job.
In pursuing his other passion, sports photography, he will shoot sports for the University of Arizona.
He got into photography because he wanted to document the achievements of his students outside of class.
Currently, he has a screen outside of his classroom with pictures he takes of Sunnyside athletes. Students crowd around it between classes to see what is new.
Dye will remain a familiar face on the sidelines at Sunnyside as he will continue taking photos there as well.
He became a teacher because he wanted to coach soccer. And once again, sports with usher him into a new career.
