Since graduating from Pensacola Christian College, Jared Fuqua (Secondary Education ’14, M.S. Educational Leadership ’19) has served at Bay Area Christian School (BACS) in League City, Texas. As a history teacher, coach, and now junior high principal, he enjoys spending each day teaching and running an institution that uses education to reach students for Christ.
Inspired to Teach
Jared’s mother, Melissa Fuqua (Physical Education ’88, M.S. Educational Administration ’02), motivated his love of education. For 24 years, she worked as a high school principal at BACS. Also a history teacher, she brought history to life for high school students, inspiring Jared to pursue a career in education. Knowing that teaching from a Christian perspective would be important to his career, Jared chose to attend PCC and pursue an education degree with a concentration in history. “Receiving my education from a biblical worldview was important because I wanted to use that same biblical integration in my classroom as a teacher. Also, it was refreshing to not have to constantly wonder whether or not the truth was being warped,” he said. “I wanted to have professors that took truth from the Bible and wove it into their lessons.”
Throughout Jared’s education, his teachers inspired him as they lived by example. “I remember Dr. Fred Johnson stressing that teaching young people was a calling God placed on our lives,” he said. “He also demonstrated an ability to hold high standards while being relatable to students. I knew that he cherished God’s calling on his life, and he was determined to fulfill that calling with a vigor and joy that was spirit-filled. I pray each day that I minister to students with the same vigor and joy.”
By the time Jared graduated, he was equipped to be an effective history teacher who could influence others for Christ. “Teaching History with Dr. Reese was impactful,” he said. “In that class, I learned how to implement classroom management, write rigorous tests, and capture student’s minds and imaginations with storytelling. PCC set the expectation that teachers should train students with excellence and hold standards while not falling into the decades-long national trend of sliding academic standards. I was taught that the goal is not simply for students to earn an A+—it is to train them to do their best in all things for God’s glory.”
Striving to Make a Difference
A career as a teacher fulfilled Jared’s longtime goal, but as he worked with his students, he realized he wanted to add to his abilities as an educator. “After four years of studying in PCC’s rigorous education program, I had a desire to learn how to train teachers and implement biblical education philosophy from an administrative position,” he explained. “I knew God had called me to teach; however, I wanted to be prepared in case He called me to step into an administrative role.”
After completing his PCC graduate degree, Jared was asked to be BACS’s junior high principal. “I maintain oversight of students’ academic performance, discipline, and spiritual formation,” he said. “I also oversee teacher performance, which involves consistent evaluation.”
As part of his school’s outreach, Jared educates families about responsible technology use and how to defend students from the secularism they find on their digital devices. “This has always been a battle for Christian educators, but now these worldviews are easily and continually pushed upon our younger generations through modes of media and entertainment,” he said. “There is also hands-on work involved, such as educating students and their parents about digital responsibility, phone usage, and the potential dangers that are in the palms of their hands.”
Jared Fuqua’s reward for all his hard work is the difference he gets to make in his students’ lives. “My favorite moments have been the connections with the students,” he said. “By far, the best part is witnessing students accept Christ and be baptized during chapels. I have also received emails from students stating that even though they didn’t care for the subject, they were thankful for junior high history because they felt prepared for college. Salvations, those emails, and seeing students go on to serve the Lord are certainly rewarding aspects of Christian education.”
Read more about how God is directing and working through PCC faculty and alumni.