Karson Beer, assistant director at Colleyville Heritage High School, and Brandon Slate, who is in the same role at Grapevine High School, have more in common than just being in their first year of teaching in similar positions in GCISD.
The two are childhood classmates who met in middle school, played in the same high school band and attended the same university, pursuing futures as music educators.
“In college, we joked about whether we would also wind up working for the same school district,” Slate said.
Unbeknownst to them, their future would eventually lead them in that direction.
When contemplating school districts, they separately turned to their mentors who both spoke highly of and recommended GCISD.
“GCISD is the place to be because of the people working alongside you,” was what Beer’s mentor said, while Slate’s mentor also described GCISD similarly.
"The relationships you will make in GCISD will last a lifetime," is what Slate’s mentor shared.
Taking into consideration the advice from people they admired, they both applied with GCISD at different times when the opportunities presented themselves.
The rest is history.