Speaker: Rayan Rutledge, Entrepreneur
Please start by introducing yourself, where you went to school, the teacher that inspired you and how...
Rayan Rutledge: Hi, my name is Rayan Rutledge. I went to McKinney High School, McKinney ISD in North Texas. I attended J.L. Greer elementary school. And the teacher that influenced me the most had a lot of them, but the one that influenced me the most was June McGowen, Ms. McGowen. She was my third grade teacher. She was a phenomenal teacher. So many positive thoughts, when I think back during that time, many of which helped to shape who I am today. Ms. McGowen was a phenomenal teacher. She made learning fun, lots of laughter in her classroom, but she also was very disciplined. She ran a disciplined class with a, a passion for teaching, which was inspiring and really made us as students passionate about learning. For me. she was the first teacher that I had that looked like me. And at an early age as a young person, that was incredibly important. Ms. McGowen challenged me to learn in a lot of different new ways, encouraged me to explore my creativity and really become comfortable with with who I am. And I'm so grateful for Ms. McGowen and, and really also her husband Mr. McGowen, Jesse McGowen. They're both legendary educators from McKinney Texas. To give you a sense as to the impact they had on our community and continue to have on our community in McKinney, Mr. McGowen had an elementary school named after him and I believe to this day, he still goes to the school in the mornings to welcome students to the school. So just an amazing family. Two individuals that have definitely left a mark on my life and continue to inspire the next generation of students there in McKinney, Texas.
