Erie High School is excited to take on many new teachers this year; Dillon May is one of our newest teachers that has jumped into the deep end feet first. 

Growing up in Washington, May experienced the outdoors and life on the coast. He was raised around one high school and in a close knit community, which is one of the reasons he felt at home teaching in Erie. 

May explains how he went to University of Montana, Missoula to study Journalism but states, “After a few months into the semester I was missing my calculus classes and wasn’t loving journalism.”

After this life altering realization, Dillon May journeyed back into the world of mathematics. He earned his degree in Mathematics and certifications in Secondary Education, Special Education, and Coaching. 

From this, May knew he wanted to teach and coach cross country and track, as running is one of his passions. Through his love for running, May wanted to give back to his community by coaching students which has turned into an incredible reward for him at Erie High School. 

Right out of college he was eager for a job and determined to work for the Boulder Valley School District. He wanted to start fresh and move somewhere new. May visited the CASPA job fair and beelined directly to the Boulder Valley School District booth. 

Unfortunately, BVSD was not hiring math teachers. This was May’s first look into the real world and that you do not always get the job. May continued to search for a job going from booth to booth, “I had like nine different interviews in the span of five hours, I was drained.” 

He then stumbled upon a quaint booth that caught his eye. The St. Vrain Valley School District. From there, everything fell into place and he felt good about it. 

“It was like the TV show House Hunters, Erie checked all my boxes.” 

Starting off the year was rough and he quickly started going to his colleagues for help and was reassured that he is not the only one who felt like he was drowning. May was slightly confused with the way he wanted to teach lessons. This was his first teaching job and it was proving to be difficult within the first few weeks. May alludes to how “I felt like I was tubing behind a boat upside down and underwater.” 

Although not everything at Erie High School has been a struggle. May has also taken up coaching within the athletic department. Alongside Coach Brandon Havard, May is helping our cross country runners exceed their goals and feel the wonderful rewards of new personal records and amazing race days that make training worth it. When the days get hard, May looks forward to coaching our cross country runners. 

May feels that in the end, teaching and coaching has been nothing but rewarding. He gets to see his students be involved and achieve goals. 

He is ecstatic to coach and teach this year and has learned that “it gets better every day … it is all about the journey along the way.” 

May has taken right to Colorado and is always outdoors either running, fishing, or hiking. He has even gone to the Great Sand Dunes, along with visiting many different national parks that Colorado has to offer. May enthusiastically encourages others to “get out into the national parks, they are amazing.” 

Erie High School is lucky to have so many new teachers including Mr. May who are pushing our students to new heights and helping them achieve new goals. Mr. May, we are lucky to have you teaching here at Erie High School and wish you all the best in the coming year!