Although Scott Pridie loves being up in the sky, he also loves being down on the ground teaching his students here at South High School.
Pridie served as a police officer for 29 years of his life in Texas. He said he enjoyed those years because he wanted to be the reason children found their way in life instead of being involved in gangs or getting in trouble; this reason also inspired him to become a teacher.
When he moved to Omaha, Pridie decided to explore teaching. He added that he has police officers and teachers in his family and was inspired by both in his career choices.
Pridie does not only teach here at South High School; he also teaches flight instruction at UNO. Pridie said he has been flying planes for eight years.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve been fascinated by planes. I’ve loved planes since I was little and was always like, ‘I want to fly a plane!’” he said.
Pridie said his favorite part about flying planes is the freedom “because you’re up in the sky and you get to see the world from a different view.” When he first went solo, he said he couldn’t even believe he was actually flying a plane.
But Pridie didn’t get to experience that feeling of freedom right away; he said it took a lot of studying. It took him seven years to become a flight instructor and nine months for him to get his private pilot’s license which is what one needs to be able to fly. Pridie’s passion for flying planes is so strong that he wants to continue doing it for the rest of his life.
Pridie said his favorite part about teaching students how to fly is when they are doing their first solo because they are very nervous and excited, and it’s fun to watch them experience their own freedom in the sky.
But Pridie doesn’t only have a passion for teaching flight; he also loves teaching social studies to students at South High. Pridie said that out of all the schools at which he has taught, the students at South are the best.
He added that he wants to continue teaching for a couple more years, retire and then continue as a flight instructor. Pridie said his goal when teaching students at South is to help them develop critical thinking and literacy skills so they can be successful in life as well as at school.
Did you really think Pridie was only a teacher? Well, now you know differently.
