Mr. Reynolds: Portsmouth High’s Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy

Mr.+Reynolds+at+his+desk

Cyrus Gronblom

Mr. Reynolds at his desk

Cyrus Gronblom, Paper Clip Writer/Staff

Gordon Reynolds is Portsmouth High School’s CTE Computer Science Teacher who for the past six years has worked hard to mix humor and learning to build strong relationships with students. 

 

Making my students cry and crushing their souls a little bit,” said Reynolds jokingly when asked what he really enjoys about teaching. Ultimately, Reynolds enjoys making connections with students and helping them get through highschool successfully. He teaches the following courses: Intro to Computer Science, Object Oriented Programming, Python, Web Development, and Java.

 

Even though Reynolds presents a friendly and open environment, he often teaches his classes as if they were taught at college level. He treats his students as independent young adults and holds them responsible for their work. “Keep up with your work and read your syllabus,” Reynolds continued. “Put your due dates in your calendar.”

 

Courtney Ritchings, the Director of CTE program at PHS, had a lot to say about Reynolds. “Mr. Reynolds is incredibly intelligent, he’s such a team player and goes above and beyond to support his peers and spread his knowledge. He really is fantastic!”

 

Before becoming a teacher, Gordon spent the better part of 19 years as “Mr. Mom”, a stay at home dad, and college student. Reynolds enjoyed being a stay at home parent “until [his] younger son came downstairs and he realized that he was taller than me and he didn’t need to make sandwiches for him anymore.” 

 

Cooper Mee and Timmy Tran, both students of Reynolds, had only positive things to say. “Mr. Reynolds is an incredible teacher. He is super realistic with the way that he teaches and runs his class, and shows genuine care about the future of his students teaching them life skills in his CTE courses,” Tran stated. Mee added, “He is a great teacher who taught me lots.”