Cargo pants, voluminous hair, and a beard that makes Santa Clause purr; Kyle Riggins’s silhouette alone is legendary at RHS. Riggins has taught at Rangeview for the length of a high schooler’s age now and taught countless students, but, being voted Rangeview’s 2024 Male Teacher of The Year came as a shock to Mr. Riggins.
“There’s a lot better teachers in this building,” said the true outdoors man Riggins.
Despite not believing that he deserves the award, his colleagues and students say otherwise. “Kyle has the enviable ability to keep his cool ALL THE TIME. Nothing rattles him. I think that is why kids like him, and his classes. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he is serious about being fair to kids,” said Art teacher Jacquie Ryan.
“I feel like he is a great teacher when it comes to teaching a design class and also a fulfilling class in all types of aspects,” said Freshman Christy Dwamena.
Even though Mr. Riggins doesn’t think he deserved the award, he does acknowledge that his classroom and teaching style is different from other teachers. He believes that the thing that makes his classroom special is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. This different approach to teaching stems from when he was a student.
“I was not good at traditional classroom content. But I was able to really thrive in art and other content. And I found that I was still a valuable student… And so I was like, if I could help other students do that… I think that I’d be successful.”
Riggins has done it all in his long tenure at RHS teaching various art classes including photography, he also flourished teaching various film and video production courses. Developing much of the program itself and inspiring a different section of RHS students in these technologically changing times.
“Kyle has been a true pinnacle of the RHS art department for nearly 2 decades. We love his art talents, cutting edge fashion, dad jokes, and record setting beard styles, said fellow Art teacher Alison Manciu. “He is a gem of a human and a teacher. We love him dearly. Just don’t ask him to reply to your g chats-it will never happen.”
Mr. Riggins has left a huge impact on so many students with this teaching approach. He’s even had former students that remember him and how much his class meant to them as a person.
“I think if I can help students enjoy their time in high school, recognize the things that are fun, help them find out like ‘oh, here’s when I should work. Here’s when I should have fun.’ That’s worth it.”
After having taught for so long, Riggins also has some advice for the graduating seniors: “It gets so much better after high school, it gets so much better. The freedom is great.”
In the meantime, Riggins will be graduating to a new adventure of sorts; he’ll be headed to the Deans office for the next step in his storied career.
“When I grow up I want to be more like Kyle…even though I am 6 weeks older than he is,” said Ryan.
