Yukon high school is home to over 128 teachers and staff, out of all those teachers there is only one cabinetry teacher, but more importantly, there is only one Anthony Mashaw. One of Mashaw’s cabinetry two students hunter Hickman explained, “I’ve never had a class that’s as hands-on or engaging as Mr. Mashaw’s class.”
Mashaw has been teaching Cabinetry I and II for just over ten years and he’s been a bus driver for just as long. While Mashaw was a long-time teacher, his career extended far beyond public education.
Mashaw had a job as a Sonar Tech on board a Fast tech nuclear submarine for four years in the Navy. He also served as the Environmental Director for the Apache Tribe.
While working all of those high-priority jobs, Mashaw found the time to get his commercial driver’s license. That license presented the opportunity to work one of his oddest jobs yet, driving the tour bus for country star Johnny Lee.
Mashaw described how he managed to accept that position.
“One of the other bus drivers at the time, John Kirby, drove Johnny Lee for a couple of summers,” Mashaw said. “Then in 2017, one of his sons was in a weightlifting competition during the summer so he asked me if I wanted to do it, and I did.”
Since then, Mashaw has been Johnny Lee’s regular tour bus driver, still driving to shows during the weekends and sometimes after school.
Mr. Mashaw explained that life on the bus can get monotonous at times, sometimes having to drive up to seven or eight hours in one sitting. So in order to deal with the boredom, Mr. Mashaw and Johnny Lee exchanged stories about their time in the Navy.
“Both of us were Navy residents. He was in during the Vietnam War. I was in the Cold War. He comes upfront, sits in his little side seat and I tell him jokes. We always talk about Navy stuff, and all sorts of war stories” Mashaw said.
Mashaw has grown somewhat of a reputation as a hard-working and reliable tour bus driver.
“Mo Bandy called me up the other day, he wanted to know if I could drive for him. That rock group Hinder hit me up seeing if I could drive them around,” Mashaw said
one of Mashaw’s cabinetry II students, Nickolas Proctor, also used to ride his bus home from school and he too appreciated mashaws driving.
“I think that he’s a really good teacher that creates a fun environment, gets everyone involved, and just has a really good personality,” Proctor said. “He’s really one of the best drivers I’ve ever had… he always gets me home safe.”