Fast Five: Bruce Twitchell sees the whole picture
Meet Bruce Twitchell, born and raised in Boise. Bruce has lived in Idaho his whole life except for about 18 months when he lived in a foreign country called Texas. Bruce has lived in Boise, Moscow, Pocatello, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene. He has been teaching at Coeur d’Alene High School for 15 years.
Generation: By definition I am a Gen X baby.
Career and community involvement:
I have been a photography, art and yearbook teacher at Coeur d’Alene High for 15 years and love every year of it. During this time I have been active in the community and politically and professionally. Often people are surprised to know that an Idaho native can identify as a non-Republican, but it does happen and no, I am not mentally ill.
Parental status:
I have two amazing daughters that I love with all my heart. They are 18 and 15 years old.
1. What is the most interesting or rewarding part of your job as a photography teacher?
The most interesting part is what comes out of the mouths of teenagers. Every day I hear something that makes me stop and really consider what my role as a teacher is. The comments make me realize that getting them ready for the world is much more important than photography itself, and by this I mean being responsible and professional — showing up on time, getting assignments turned in on time, being respectful and saying please and thank you, to name a few. Each day I am also reminded of how lucky I am to be where I am. The students I have are caring, honest and really do give a dang about each other. Since becoming a teacher, I have also learned that it is never, ever, safe to judge someone on appearances. Too many of the children don’t know where their next meal is coming from, they don’t know where they are sleeping that night and just the fact that there is an outside-of-school life that often carries a huge burden on them.
2. What is your classroom philosophy, and why?
My classroom philosophy is simple. Care. Care about yourself. Care about others. Care about your work ethic. Care about your grade. Care about doing the right thing at all times. Care about preparing yourself for the rest of your life.
3. How and why did you get into taxidermy?
My love of taxidermy, in particular BAD taxidermy, started a few years ago when I was at an auction and they had some very strange taxidermy and I thought how great that would be in my classroom (yes, I am the weird photography teacher). The students’ reactions to the taxidermy when I hung it up was nothing short of amazing so I continued to find taxidermy to hang in my classroom. The worse it is, the better. To add to it all, last summer my oldest daughter and I went to a taxidermy school for a few days to learn the art of it. She mounted a raccoon and I mounted a white tail deer cape. An amazing experience and a great time spent with my daughter.
4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
As an Idaho native and longtime resident, I have never been hunting. I have never ridden a horse. I have never swam in Lake Coeur d’Alene. I am not opposed to ANY of these, but just things I have never done. I will someday do all of these though.
5. In your opinion, why do they say, “A picture is worth 1,000 words?”
A still photo is like nothing else and everyone that looks at a photo can get something different out of the photo, based on their life experiences. For example, if you see a photo of a badger and you had a bad experience with a badger as a child, you will feel uneasy and perhaps fear among many other words. If you grew up with a pet badger and it slept next to you on a bed and kept you safe as a child, your words associated with that photo would be the opposite. A still photo can be analyzed and analyzed, looking at every detail of it. That one moment in time is captured forever and will never happen exactly like that again.