By Matt Hoover
USD 475 Communications Coordinator
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. – Students throughout Geary County Schools USD 475 are being taught by some of the best and brightest teachers in the state of Kansas.
At Junction City High School this is truly seen as the Blue Jays are blessed to have two published authors on staff in Megan Munger and David Mealing. Munger currently teachers English IV and English I and II Composition, while Mealing oversees English III, as well as AP Language and Composition.
Munger, who is currently in her third-year teaching in USD 475 and is a Pittsburg native, has based most of her writing in autobiography and has been a prolific journal writer since she was a teenager. She began writing poetry in high school, but it wasn’t until she began working on her master’s at Pittsburg State University that Munger really began to dive deep into poetry writing and began thinking that her work could actually be published. Through a little encouragement by her professors at Pitt State, she was able to see her dream become a reality. “I've only been seriously submitting poetry for the last year or so as I'm working on my second master's through Pacific University.
This Master of Fine Arts in Writing program is low residency, meaning it's mostly correspondence and online, but I also spend about two weeks twice a year studying in Oregon. I've gained more confidence in my writing, and I sent out 100 poems last year for the first time ever. I also have a manuscript-in-progress that was born out of the poetry that I wrote during my first master's at Pitt State, so I keep revising and sending that out to publishers as well. Currently, I have about a dozen poems published or forthcoming. They are published in literary magazines and journals. Some are online, and some are in print,” said Munger.
By seeing her writing published in different magazines and journals, Munger has truly been able to inspire her students, daily. “I'm a full-time student and full-time English teacher, which is a delicate balance for me, but also a great way to model the importance of self-discipline and self-care for my students. I value vulnerability and honesty in my classroom above all else, and all good writing has those two qualities,” said Munger. “I also try to foster the understanding that good writing requires a lot of work, but it's worth it because of what it can teach you about yourself in the process. Bravery and courage are only developed through doing difficult things, and writing well is one of many difficult but worthwhile tasks they will do in their lives. Publishing has taught me more about revision and rejection than anything else has, so I try to use my experiences as honest examples with my students. Mostly, I hope that my love for school and writing inspires them to do well and to confidently love what they love.”
Like Munger, Mealing, who began working in USD 475 in 2024 following winter break and is originally from a surf town in San Clemente, Calif., shares the same love for teaching. He is in his first year as a licensed teacher thanks to Kansas State University’s MAT program, which offers a one-year path to teaching program. He has been a storyteller and reader his whole life.
“Most of my early storytelling experience came from being a DM for pen and paper roleplaying games. I playedDungeonsand Dragons since I was five years old, but I never attempted to write anything more than an academic essay for college or high school until I started writing my first novel, Soul of the World,” said Mealing. So far Mealing has published three epic fantasy novels in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
His first book that he had published was translated into German, while all three have been published in Polish. His first novel, Soul of the World, was published in English in 2016, while the second, Blood of the Gods, in 2018, and the third, Chains of the Earth, in 2023. All three are part of The Ascension Cycle trilogy and have been sold to publishers all over the world.“The series started during a week-long vacation to the big island of Hawaii with my wife. I’d brought a copy of Brandon Sanderson’s newly released Words of Radiance to read, and I did, all 1,000 pages, cover to cover, in a week,” said Mealing. “The whole time I was reading it I was thinking to myself, why am I not writing books like this? And so, I started writing. I wrote the first two chapters in our rented beach house, kept working on the plane, and never stopped until I had a completed first draft of Soul of the World nine months later.”
Through his writing, Mealing has not only been able to impact and connect with his students, daily, but also inspire them to reach towards their dreams and have goals following life after their time in the hallways of JCHS is done. He keeps a physical copy of each of his books in his classroom to do just that. “Having my name on physical books adds an air of authority to what I say about writing, but it is also a conversation starter with my students that helps demystify the idea that authors are these untouchable, quasi-mythical figures. They aren’t. They’re people like any of us, with hopes, dreams and stories to tell. My hope is that it inspires some of them to try their hand at writing a book of their own,” said Mealing, who hopes to be able to teach a creative writing class next school year.
r