At Bethpage High School, Mr. McCoy is well-known for being an excellent teacher, coach, and comedian. He might be best known for his daily dad jokes or even his numerous classes. But there’s still many things students may not know. The Eagle’s Cry sat down with Mr. McCoy and asked him some questions about himself. 

The Eagle’s Cry: How long have you been teaching at BHS? 

“25 years.” 

The Eagle’s Cry: What was your favorite thing to coach? 

“I’ve coached football, I’ve coached soccer, I’ve coached basketball, I’ve coached lacrosse. I’d probably say football.”

The Eagle’s Cry: When did you realize that you wanted to be a social studies teacher? 

“I went to school at Alfred University, and I thought I was gonna be a trainer— something in the sciences— and I quickly decided after seeing how difficult classes were to change to education. I was thinking of possibly social studies or science but then I started taking Social Studies classes and I really liked it so that’s what made me choose.”

The Eagle’s Cry: How has BHS changed since you went here? 

“So I went from 90’-94’, I would say all the good things have maintained. There’s a big stress in classes and AP classes, and going to college, and taking more accelerated classes than it was when I was in school. There were some of them but there weren’t too many of them. So I’d say the focus on getting a higher education in high school and then, in classes there was more like tech and automotive and stuff like that which we don’t have anymore; kids go to BOCES, so we missed out on that now, which hopefully they’ll come back too. But, we didn’t have anything like Robotics, we didn’t have anything like all these accelerated programs for kids so it’s nice that kids get to do different things.” 

The Eagle’s Cry: What is your favorite class to teach?

“None. I just kinda like teaching social studies and getting to know the kids. I don’t think I have a favorite. I’ve done mostly 9th and 10th grade, I’ve done senior sem, I’ve done film, I’ve done a whole bunch of different classes. I think each year, if you have a class that brings out the best in you, it’s a lot more fun. Sometimes you have classes that are a little dry, sometimes you have classes that are a little hyper, sometimes you have classes that are sleepy. It all depends on the grade and the class but I would say all my classes I like teaching.” 

The Eagle’s Cry: What is a random fun fact about you that many people don’t know?

“That I used to have really long red hair.”

The Eagle’s Cry: Any words of advice for students?

 “No, just enjoy your time. Surround yourself with good people and good friends. Laugh. Sometimes high school kids don’t feel like they fit in or they belong. So just you know, it goes very quick and before you know it, you might be married, you might have a kid, you might be working, and you think it’s so far away but it really isn’t. So, just enjoy it, have fun. That’s really it.”