Tyler Rutledge has been driven to serve, whether as a medic in the U.S. Army Reserves, a prospective nurse or a science teacher at Westerville South High School (WSHS).
The newest addition to WSHS’ science department has taken a non-traditional path to the classroom. But all of his experiences have shaped his vision for working with students.
“The content is important but it’s not the priority,” he said. “I’d rather teach you as a person. Let’s build your confidence, your communication skills and those skills that are useful in life that the military helped cement for me and made it very clear that these were important components to be successful.”
His journey to WSHS started when he joined the U.S. Army Reserves after graduating from high school in 2007. He sought a career that would equip him with skills he could take back to the civilian world. His recruiter suggested serving as a medic — a good fit considering the multiple members of Rutledge’s family who were in the medical field.
“I can be of service to my country, be of service to other people and I can bring that back when I get done,” he said.
He was stationed in Columbus while serving in the Reserves and attended Mount Carmel College of Nursing to pursue a nursing degree. But after four years, he struggled with the mental toll of the career field and coming to terms with the prospect of other people dying.
“I was accustomed to the idea of losing a fellow member of my unit whereas it was not something I fully wrapped my head around when coming back to the civilian side of things,” he said.
His hand was broken prior to his unit being deployed to Iraq in 2009 so he was forced to stay stateside. He monitored his unit from afar and learned that four members were injured and the medic who replaced him had to provide care.
While no one died, those who were hurt faced lasting injuries and Rutledge was overwhelmed with survivor’s guilt. Around that time, the military suicide rate started to rise and a counselor in Rutledge’s command unit suggested working on his departure from the Army Reserves.
“They didn’t want to see me as a statistic,” he said.
With a semester and a half away from his nursing degree, Rutledge decided nursing wasn’t a good fit either after working at Riverside Methodist Hospital.
“I had to do CPR six to seven times on people and I lost four of them,” he said. “It hit me a lot differently because I’d been with those patients for weeks on end and then doing everything we can to save their lives.”
He took a break from school to consider his next steps, moving to South Carolina for a stint before returning to Columbus. It wasn’t until a friend sought his help while preparing for the GED that Rutledge re-considered a possible career path he loved in school: education.
He earned his associate degree at Columbus State Community College before transferring to Ohio State University to complete his bachelor’s degree in education. He pursued an integrated science license which gave him the ability to teach physics, chemistry, biology or earth science.
He started his long-term student teaching assignment last fall at WSHS, where he was struck by the school’s diverse student population and their diversity and equity efforts.
“In high school, I didn’t see teachers who looked like me,” he said. “I had one African-American teacher throughout my entire career...I don't want other students to go through that and I want to be that role model for them.”
Rutledge was also impressed with the tight-knit community of science teachers at the high school — all of whom have embraced him and helped him feel welcome. He worked closely with Janet Pritchard, who advocated for him to replace another teacher retiring at the end of the year. Thanks to her support, Rutledge was able to interview for the position and was hired in December.
Once hired, he worked with Dennis Lackey, who was influential in helping him get further connected outside of the school building with his fellow teachers.
“Westerville is my place and I couldn’t be happier right now.”