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John Tyler teacher speaks out after video surfaced last week of him shoving a student

John Tyler teacher Jermain Montgomery speaks out for the first time after a video surfaced last week of him shoving a student.

TYLER — Jermain Montgomery has been teaching for just a year, and now that career may be coming to an end.

Cell phone video was released last week shoving a student, and leading him to be placed on administrative leave.

Tuesday, he sat down with CBS19 for an exclusive interview.

A correctional officer turned teacher, Montgomery said he got into teaching because he wanted to make a difference.

"I wanted to see a different outcome, I wanted to change people's lives, and I wanted to do that with the beginning part of it, which is mentoring young men," Montgomery said.

In the last year, he believes he did just that.

"By, for one thing, just picking up young people, inviting them, bringing them to church," Montgomery said.

The student form the video is one of the young men he was mentoring.

Montgomery said he would give the student food, rides home from school, even taking him to church.

So the question becomes, how did they go from a mentoring relationship, to that video?

"Do you think your experience as a parole officer maybe lead to this," CBS19 reporter Hannah Treece asked?

"Even as being a parole officer or a probation officer, we still have certain guides and rules that we have to uphold," Montgomery said. "Standards that we have to uphold. But this situation was a little bit different. I don't think that it effected it in a negative way."

As for the specific incident...

"It's an ongoing investigation," Montgomery said. "So due to TISD, being an investigation, I can't disclose those matters."

What he did say, when it happened, he was shocked.

He said after it was over, his main concern was still for his student.

"In spite of what it looks like, I'm still going to be there. I'm still going to be Mr. Montgomery," Montgomery said.

That sentiment seemed to be echoed this past Sunday, when the student showed up at his church to reconcile.

"He came here, without me even asking him to. When he came here, my church, Omega Ministries, showed love. The men here, we embraced him," Montgomery said.

As for what Montgomery said he's learned...

"Being patient. It's a process. It's like a rehab. A lot of people, when you go through the initial process, you don't usually get the results that you want to. But you have to learn how to be patient. And that's what I had to learn in my first year of being a teacher," Montgomery said.

He said no matter what the decision from TISD is regarding his job as a teacher, he will still continue to find ways to mentor young people in the community.

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