Brian Merritt, a fourth grade teacher at Evergreen Elementary, is surrounded by the animals that he uses to teach biology to his students.
In this photo from 1994, Brian Merritt cleans a fish to teach his students a lesson in biology. It's a method he's used for more than three decades.
Brian Merritt's students are assigned to describe the animal skinning process through drawings and writing.
Readin', writin' and skinnin'?
What might raise eyebrows and turn stomachs in more metropolitan locations is just another day of teaching for Brian Merritt at Evergreen Elementary.
For 30 of his 33 years of teaching at the school, Merritt has given lessons in biology and anatomy by skinning deer and cleaning fish. It's a method that illustrates exactly what he's trying to relay to his fourth grade class.
"I started as a biology major and wanted to teach high school science. I didn't care for it over at the high school, so then I went and got my elementary credential," he said. "Well, I've always had a big flair for science, mainly animal behavior and that sort of thing - I'm also a commercial fisherman on top of that - so I have access to all kinds of things from nature, basically."
Merritt, 57, has integrated his knowledge and hands-on experience with hunting and fishing into the various general education subjects he teaches. Along with pointing out the muscles, fat and organs of the animals he skins and quarters, Merritt uses stuffed trophies as models to familiarize kids with different kinds of wildlife.
"The best way for any kid to learn science and to really turn them on to science, is do some of those really cool things," he said. "We're studying the human body. We studied the first 28 bones; the skull, the pelvis, the femur ... Now we're going into anatomy. Well, the deer is a wonderful model to show them the rib cage and the pelvis, the spinal cord, the ligaments and tendons, fat and all these things that are in the human body."
His room is lined with antlers, deer heads, a stuffed otter, raccoon, pheasant and others; all of which Merritt can use as teaching aids.
"A lot of (the trophies) have been given to me, and now I'm actually turning away," he said. "A lot of parents have been in my class and seen them and will say, 'Hey, do you want this hawk my son did?' 'Hey, do you want this one?' And now I'm telling them, 'Folks, thank you, but my classroom is stuffed. I just don't have any more room.'"
When he's reading from a story like "Where the Red Fern Grows," and it mentions a raccoon, Merritt can point to the "masked bandit" in his room to show kids what the story is describing. It aids in students' understanding since there aren't any raccoons in Southeast.
Over the years, Merritt estimates that he's taken 500 students out shrimping, crabbing or hunting grouse. It's not part of the school curriculum, but it's a way to give kids an extra understanding of the nature they're surrounded with.
"This is nothing to do with the school, and I tell parents that. This is something I do personally to show the kids a good time and maybe expose them to something they've never seen before, and then show them how shrimp are caught or how a wolf is trapped."
Merritt uses the animals to also teach about Indigenous tribes and how people have survived for thousands of years, just using what was available to them.
Students have been able to take his lessons with them throughout life. Sarah Scambler, 35, was Merritt's student in the third grade in the early '90s.
"That's one of my most vivid memories of elementary school was having him hang the deer up by the basketball hoops and show us where everything was," Scambler said. "It was a cool experience."
Beyond that one lesson, she said it was Merritt's approach to teaching that helped her learn.
"He was really hands-on. I remember one lesson that's always stuck with me," she said. "He had us write out instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich exactly. I mean, every single detail. Then he made them exactly to our specifications."
If someone wrote "put the jam on the bread," Merritt would place the jar on the bread. It was a lesson that taught Scambler, now an assistant librarian at the public library, the value of clear communication. "He had a good way of keeping us engaged."
Merritt has no plans to retire anytime soon since he loves coming to work every day.
"I love elementary school. The kids love to learn, they're excited, they've got lots of energy," Merritt said. "And they're just easy to work with. And they're a lot of fun, too."
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