MPISD – News

John Whitten

Contact: Kelly Cowan

MPHS Journalism teacher named to FBLA State Board of Directors

Mount Pleasant High School Journalism teacher, John Whitten, has been named to the Texas Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Board of Directors.

Whitten will serve Area 6, which reaches the Louisiana border, down south to the Tyler area, and as far west as DFW.

Whitten has taught at MPHS for the past seven years. During that time, he has taught multiple courses such as Commercial Photography, Newspaper, Yearbook, Principles of Arts, Audio/Video Technology, and Digital Interactive Media. In addition, his students have produced the MPHS yearbook, The Arrowhead, the campus newspaper, Tiger Talk, and the campus video announcements, Tiger Network Television. 

Before coming to MPHS, Whitten taught at Pittsburg ISD for seven years. Before becoming a teacher, he worked in the newspaper industry for seventeen years, twelve as a sports editor and five as managing editor for the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas with a major in Journalism and a minor in Political Science.

In addition to teaching, Whitten has also served as a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) advisor for seven years. During the last five years, since he took over as lead advisor, MPHS has had 46 students advance to Nationals due to their hard work and desire to reach new heights. He has also coached the UIL journalism team and was fortunate enough to have the first MPHS journalism student to advance to state and earn a UIL State medal. In 2019, they named Whitten the CTAT Area 3 Teacher of the Year.