Mr.Hicks and Mr.Beckman have one of the closest friendships at MPHS. You may be wondering about the class they teach together, why they’re so close, or even how they became friends in the first place. In this article, we will explore their notorious friendship and see how it impacts their students.
Most students at MPHS know who Mr.Beckman and Mr.Hicks are, but for those who don’t, both are beloved teachers of our MPHS social studies department. Mr.Hicks teaches AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government and Politics, and AP Macroeconomics (more on that later). Mr.Beckman teaches AP U.S. History, Native American Studies, and AP Macroeconomics along with Hicks.
Before we discuss how their friendship affects students, let’s address how they became friends. Hicks and Beckman have been friends since 2007 when Hicks was Beckman’s mentor teacher. Their friendship quickly grew, and now they’re a staple part of each others teaching experience. They also continue this friendship outside the classroom in their daily lives.
But how does this translate into the classroom? Mr.Hicks says, “We share a lot of ideas, and because of that it allows us to be more open with content and there’s no ulterior motives.” Mr. Hicks explains how their friendship helps them to share ideas to create a more well-rounded learning experience for students. Mr. Beckman feels that he has learned many things from Mr.Hicks that he applies in his teaching.
You may be wondering about the class that these two teach together. In their own words, AP Macroeconomics is, “business, government, supply, demand, all that good stuff.” Originally the class was taught only by Mr. Hicks, Beckman got “forced into it.” Hicks decided to teach the class because of a student who came to him with an interest in the financial crisis of 2008. After this, a few students asked him to start teaching AP Macroeconomics. The class was too much for Hicks to handle alone, so Beckman jumped in to teach beside Hicks, and the rest was history.
Beckman and Hicks have worked side-by-side to improve AP Macro since it was first introduced to MPHS. AP Macro came with some complications. When the class first came to MPHS, it was only one trimester long and only held 25 students. Mr. Hicks realized that this was a problem because of the enormous amount of content, so he decided to request a one-trimester extension. He also saw the need for larger class sizes, “So then we pitched the idea of teaching it together (with Beckman) in the big room 111”, explains Hicks. Since these changes, AP Macroeconomics has become more efficient, allowing it to be a favorite at MPHS.
Many students cannot picture their experience at MPHS without these teachers and their friendship. Between their funny posters, going all out for football games, humor, and love for teaching; Hicks and Beckman have made a lasting impression on their students.