Where Are They Now?
Mariah Vaughn Byars has been a high school teacher for more than 20 years. “My mom [Ann Vaughn] was a teacher also and taught in Dublin schools for 20-something years,”she said. “She convinced me to get my education degree, and I’ve never looked back.”
Byars graduated from Dublin High School in 1995 and went to Tarleton, where she started studying computer information systems. She soon realized that she’d prefer a more active career rather than a computerbased desk job, so she changed her major. Byars ended up graduating with a triple major in biology, chemistry and physics — plus a teaching certificate — to keep her options open.
While in college, Byars met her now-husband Emory Byars while working at Greenmaker Nursery in Stephenville. Emory came from a farming family with land outside of Vernon, Texas, around 45 miles west of Wichita Falls. After they both graduated, the Byars married and moved up to Emory’s hometown.
Byars applied for teaching jobs in the area and found a position near Wichita Falls. She commuted there for a year, and then the next summer was hired at Vernon ISD closer to home.
“I’ve been there ever since,” she said. “This is actually my 22nd year working in the same school. Any science class you can think of that they can teach at the high school level, I’ve taught it.”
“Anatomy and physiology, physics and chemistry — those were probably some of my favorite classes to teach,” she said. “I always had a good group of kids and we would do fun stuff.”
Over her decades of teaching, Byars loved connecting with her students on a more personal level. “You can teach them more than just the class content,” she said. “You can share life stories with them and hope that they might learn a little bit from them. You can interact and maybe influence them in a positive way, or create a spark in them that they’re going to remember forever, and it might maybe change the direction of their life. You just never know what’s gonna happen with them.”
This year, she’s taken on a new responsibility as the assistant principal of Vernon High School.
The principal she works with is her long-time colleague. “Our principal actually used to be in the science department with me,” she said. “We’ve known each other for about 10 years and and we work really well together.”
On an average day, Byars arrives at the school around seven in the morning. “I check in with my principal, and we typically kind of go over what’s going to happen for the day — or at least what we know is going to happen,” she said. “Then I’m usually out with the kids in the cafeteria or in classrooms, or I walk the halls to make sure you know things aren’t going on that shouldn’t be going on, visit with the students and things like that.”
In between spending time with the students, she’s usually in her office taking care of bills, planning, or addressing issues as they arise.
“It’s pretty much a circus some days,” she said.
So far, she has enjoyed her new role and likes that she’s still able to interface with the students. “I’m trying to stay visible to the kids,” she said. “They’re the ones that make the school go round, and I want to make sure that they know I’m still there.”
Byars hopes to remain in Vernon for the foreseeable future. The principal plans to retire within the next few years, and Byars hopes to step up as principal.
When Byars isn’t working, she’s generally spending time with her family. She has a daughter, Kellan, who is a sophomore in high school and loves wrestling, and a son, Merrick, who is in eighth grade and plays football and runs track. “Between the two of them with all their activities, it keeps us pretty darn busy,” she said. “We’re usually running all over the place.”
She also helps out on the family farm. “We have three generations [of my husband’s family] farming up here,” she said. “We farm everything from corn, to alfalfa, to cotton, to wheat, and all sorts of other things, and then we also ranch. We raise cattle.”
Byar’s father, David Vaughn, lives in Vernon. Her mother, Ann Vaughn, passed away in 2017.
Finding space in her life for all her priorities — work, family, and everything else — has not always been easy for Byars. “I would say my greatest challenge has always been time,” she said. “Making the time for the things that I want to be successful at making the time for my family, making the time for my children, making time to cook dinner.”
Throughout her life, Byars has found inspiration in her faith. “It’s probably the only thing that’s kept me trucking along,” she said. She and her family attend the First Baptist Church of Vernon.
Byars’ advice to Dublin graduates is to prioritize exploring what the world has to offer. “I would tell them to get out there in the world to see things,” she said. “Don’t miss opportunities to travel, and to experience things. You can always come back to your small hometown and help out and raise your kids there, but you need to see and do before you come home.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicleswhatDublingraduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.