Teacher Feature: King of the Arts--Michael Romick

By Taylor Erfling and Leslie Niiro, Hermann High School Sophomores

Photo by Carl Flint, Hermann High School Sophomore

Globetrotter, English teacher, and a man of the theatre, Mr. Michael Romick has been teaching at Hermann High School for five years. He teaches English III, Honors English III, Theatre Arts and one third of the ACT Prep class, where he focuses on Reading and English.

He went to Bethany College, a private liberal arts college where he majored in Theatre, fresh out of high school on a scholarship. Romick later went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in science at Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis. 

He hasn’t always been a teacher, though. Romick used to be a Visual Manager at Bath and Body Works, and then later, Assistant Director at Edison Brothers in St. Louis. “It was amazing,” said Romick.

Romick moved around a lot as an adult, from West Virginia to Cleveland, Ohio, to St. Louis. He once went on a “whirlwind flying trip” to four different European countries in seven days for his company. Romick visited London, England; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Cologne, Germany.

He met his wife, Julie, in ninth grade in West Virginia. “I was the new kid with the heavy New Jersey accent,” said Romick. Of course, their relationship had its ups and downs. “We broke up a million times between now and then,” said Romick. Father of five, Romick recently celebrated his thirtieth anniversary.

Romick always wanted to be a teacher, but didn’t pitch the idea to his wife until about 15 years ago because they couldn’t afford that lifestyle. He finds teaching “tremendously fulfilling,” and loves to see the proverbial “light bulb” go off when a student finally understands something. “There’s no describing it,” said Romick.

He reads a “ridiculous amount of books,” watches movies, and takes care of his two donkeys, four dogs, sheep and cats. Romick finds that HHS has a strong sense of community and that Hermann is a great place to raise kids.