Mr. Scott Pierce is ending his teaching career after 35 years. Mr. Pierce spent 12 years teaching at Blooming Prairie Schools before coming to OHS for the next 23. Mr. Pierce has taught business at the high school. He also started Owatonna’s DECA chapter and was a leader for Owatonna’s Fellowship of Christain Athletes chapter. Mr. Pierce started his education off at Waldorf University and finished it at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Mr. Pierce grew up in Bricelyn, MN, where he participated in football, basketball and baseball. He was able to stay involved in some of these activities, being a JV boys basketball coach and B-squad baseball coach. Mr. Pierce did not always imagine himself being a teacher. He said, “I was going to go into business and then after a couple years of business classes I knew some guys that were older than me and had just graduated, there was kind of a recession going on, and they couldn’t find jobs, my dad was a teacher and coach so I thought I’d switch gears because I wanted to be a coach.” Even though he did not see himself going down the teaching path, Mr. Pierce has enjoyed his teaching career.

He taught entrepreneurship, personal law, accounting, intro to business, word processing/typing, advanced marketing/DECA prep and his favorite class, marketing. Mr. Pierce has enjoyed making connections with students and will miss it the most after retiring. His fond memories from his teaching career come from attending the International Career and Development Conference for DECA, which would take him and any Owatonna qualifiers on a trip to various cities around the country, the most recent being Atlanta, GA. DECA played a significant role in Mr. Pierce’s career. He said, “I thought DECA would be beneficial to the kids and our business program.” 

Even though he is retiring from teaching, he will continue to pursue other things. While teaching, he has worked as a crop insurance adjuster and plans to do more of this during his retirement. Mr. Pierce is also excited to spend more time with his family and grandchildren during his retirement. He also plans to get in a few more rounds of golf. Mr. Pierce said, “I’m just kinda waiting to see where God leads me.” 

Mr. Pierce has made a lasting impact on past, present and even future students. Owatonna Public Schools will surely miss Mr. Scott Pierce and is excited to see where retirement takes him.