Former teacher sees student’s TV success

VW independent/submitted information

For teachers, there is no greater reward than seeing a student become successful using skills the teachers helped them develop. That was recently the case for retired Van Wert High School TV Production teacher Kevin McGonagle.

McGonagle and his wife, Linda, now of North Webster, Indiana, have been serving as volunteers in the Volunteers in Parks program at the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida. On a recent day off they journeyed to Tampa, Florida, where Kevin was on the set of Tampa Bay’s “Morning Blend” at the invitation of co-host Natalie Taylor Allen, one of McGonagle’s former students.

“When Natalie was in high school she was determined to have her own TV show some day,” McGonagle said. “It was a thrill to see her living that dream.

“I am so proud of her; that morning at WFTS I saw her interviewing a celebrity couple from “The Bachelor”, throw pizza dough with a local chef, and promote a Tampa theatre production,” McGonagle added. “Natalie is intelligent and talented, but she’s also a very hard worker.”

While VWHS graduate has her dream job now, it didn’t come easy. She shared with the McGonagles how many times she didn’t get a job she wanted, but kept on pursuing her high school goals.

The visit gave her former teacher an opportunity to catch up with Taylor, who is expecting her first child with husband, Walter Allen, a morning news anchor at a rival station in Tampa.

Taylor, a Van Wert native and Bowling Green State University graduate, spent over a decade as a host, reporter, and anchor for Fox Sports, mostly in Atlanta, Georgia, where she covered a variety of sports, including the SEC (Southeast Conference), NASCAR, and the National Hockey League.

For two years in 2010, Taylor moved back to the Buckeye State as an anchor and reporter for the ABC and Fox affiliate in Columbus. She also got a taste of morning television there, appearing on “Good Day Columbus”.

“We reminisced about all the VWHS grads now working in TV-related jobs,” McGonagle said. “We both felt so fortunate the VWHS administration supported the program through the years.”