Welcome to our series, #WHYoming
We are highlighting people from around our communities and asking them a few questions. We want to learn a little about them and see why they chose this great state to raise their families, start their businesses, or simply to ask — Why Wyoming?
This month is Expedition Academy Science Teacher, fishing guide, and outdoorsman, Dan Parson.
What first pulled you to Wyoming, and what made you decide to stay?
I started my teaching career in Chicago. I loved my students and I loved teaching, but I never quite loved the city. I kept telling myself I was going to leave, but every year another group of kids pulled me back in. Before I knew it, four years had gone by. Then life hit the reset button in a big way. I got very sick with Lyme Disease and ended up hospitalized for a long time with encephalitis. It slowed me down, scared me, and gave me a lot of time to think. When I finally got better, I realized something important: if I was going to spend my life teaching, I needed to do it somewhere that fed my soul too. Teachers don’t exactly live a travel-the-world lifestyle, so I figured I’d better live where the things I love are close by. Green River offered me a job, and I grabbed it. I came for the classroom and stayed for the rivers, the open space, and the people. At this point Wyoming would have to physically evict me.
Was there a specific moment when Wyoming started feeling like home?
Absolutely. It was the first time I told an out-of-stater they were being dramatic about the wind. It was blowing 25 miles an hour and gusting to 40, and I caught myself saying, “Oh this? This is nothing.” That’s when I knew I had officially crossed over.
How has living in Sweetwater County shaped the way you see education and community?
Sweetwater County has a very practical, roll-up-your-sleeves kind of culture. Around here people care less about what you say and a lot more about whether you show up and do the work. That attitude has shaped me as a teacher – less fluff, more real world, and always with a sense of humor because, honestly, we all need it when it’s February and somehow still windy inside the building. Being a little isolated out here builds individualism and self-sufficiency. We’ve got grit in this community, and I like that. But we also do a good job of looking out for each other. At Expedition Academy we talk about that a lot and try to model it for our kids. work hard, take care of people, and don’t whine.
After decades in the classroom, what do you believe schools still get wrong about how kids learn?
We still sometimes act like kids learn best by sitting quietly in straight rows like tiny accountants. Most of them don’t. They learn by doing, by talking, by messing up, trying again, and occasionally setting something on fire in a controlled laboratory environment. Science especially isn’t just a subject, it’s a way of thinking. You don’t just study science; you DO science. That’s why I built a classroom zoo, a hydroponic garden, and drag kids on about 14 field trips a year. Learning is messy, teenagers are even messier. And honestly, that mess is where the magic happens. It’s loud, chaotic, unpredictable, and beautiful.
Why did you decide to start teaching at Expedition Academy instead of Green River High School?
I wanted to be somewhere that let me teach a little differently and reach kids who don’t always fit the traditional school mold. Expedition Academy is that place. It’s small, it’s personal, and it feels more like a family than a building. Around here every kid is known, every story matters, and that’s exactly the kind of school I wanted to be part of.
How does Wyoming’s landscape itself become part of your curriculum?
When you live in a place with rivers, deserts, mountains, and weather that changes its mind every 15 minutes, it would be educational malpractice not to use it. My classroom basically has no walls. Science investigations happen on the riverbank, in the cottonwood groves, out watching our town deer, or while taking care of weird critters from all over the world. Wyoming is the ultimate outdoor textbook—you just have to step outside and open it.
What made you want to start fly fishing and tying your own flies?
I’ve always been a fisherman. I honestly don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t obsessed with it. Fishing makes you an active participant in the drama of an ecosystem instead of just a spectator, and I love that feeling of being pulled into something bigger than yourself. I tie my own flies because it’s meditative, creative, and at least in theory, saves me money. As a fishing guide I go through a lot of flies, so “in theory” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Where is your favorite spot to fish and if you could fish anywhere in the world, where would it be?
The Green River is easily my favorite place on earth to fish and even just be. It’s my church. It owns my heart. If I could go anywhere else, I’d love to fish the salt flats on Christmas Island or somewhere like it. But honestly, even when I travel, I mostly just miss my river.
Besides fishing, what other hobbies do you have?
I hunt birds with my Lab Stella, who is hands-down my best hunting buddy. I hunt elk, deer, and antelope and enjoy turning them into my own burger and sausages. We keep a few chickens that make me laugh more than they probably should. I tie flies almost every day, and I spend a fair amount of time pretending I’m about to get in better shape. Most of all, I love spending time with my wife Beth. She’s my best friend, and hanging out with her is still my favorite hobby.
What is your proudest accomplishment in life?
That one is easy, building a family with Beth. She has always been out of my league, and I’ve always been smart enough to know it. Blending our families in 2010 wasn’t simple, but we became a true team. Now our children are grown and thriving, and I have complete faith in them as good people who bring light and kindness into the world. Every other accomplishment in my life is a distant second. Professionally, I’m most proud of helping kids who once believed school wasn’t for them discover that they are braver, smarter, and stronger than they ever imagined.
What is the thing you love most about the community?
People here take care of each other. When something goes wrong, neighbors show up without being asked. It’s a community that still believes in handshakes, hard work, and helping out. I also love that we’re surrounded by huge stretches of wild public land and the kind of quiet you can’t find in many places anymore. It’s a tough, kind, independent place and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
If you’d like us to interview yourself or someone you know for #WHYoming, please send us suggestions to james@sweetwaternow.com
