Bryan Gruber: Teacher, Explorer, Renaissance Man
Naturalist, explorer, nature photographer, sailor, farmer, sugarmaker, birdwatcher, and bike enthusiast.
These are some of the many talents and interests of Tyrone Area High School “Renaissance Man” Bryan Gruber.
In his 28th year teaching, Gruber is one of Tyrone’s most beloved teachers, and also one of its most interesting.
Born and raised in the Pittsburgh area, Gruber attended Penn Hills High School and graduated from Shippensburg University in 1996.
True to his spontaneous nature, becoming a teacher was not on his radar when he graduated high school and went to college.
Gruber’s original plans were to major in accounting, but he quickly found out that it wasn’t for him. He then switched to computer programming, but yet again he didn’t think the major was the right fit for him.
This was when Gruber stumbled upon his true passion: teaching STEM classes. He switched his major to physics and secondary education to become a physics/STEM teacher.
Gruber interviewed at schools across the state and said he came to Tyrone because former superintendent Bill Miller and assistant superintendent Joanne Lang had made him feel welcome and comfortable throughout the interview process.
He also liked the natural beauty of central Pennsylvania and thought that it would be a good place for someone who enjoys nature.
Gruber is well-known among his students for his diverse talents and spontaneous adventures.
“I could leave for a four-day trip and end up not coming home for a month. I can just decide to pack up and go wherever I feel like going any time I’m not working,” said Gruber.
In other words, Gruber simply does what he wants to do.
Gruber said that he has had a love for nature since his childhood.
“I’d always disappear and my parents would ask where I went. Most times I just tried to get away from people,” Gruber said.
However, it’s difficult to get into nature consistently in a large city like Pittsburgh, so when Gruber moved to Central Pennsylvania, his opportunities increased exponentially.
Junior Brayden Parsons said he and his fellow students enjoy hearing about Gruber’s adventures and various talents.
“Mr. Gruber always has the most interesting stories, and always ensures that all of his students understand what he’s teaching,” Parsons said.
Through his thorough knowledge of his subjects and infectious personality, Gruber has influenced and impacted the lives of thousands of students, and is the epitome of what a teacher should be.
Gruber spends as much of his free time as possible on or around water, where he can participate in some of his favorite activities: boating, fishing, and photography.
His fleet of watercraft consists of a two-person sailboat, two kayaks, a canoe, and a fishing boat.
Gruber said that the solitude that the water brings is what keeps him coming back.
”I really enjoy being on the water when I am the only one out there. So in the colder months, it’s easy to be the only one out there in the early mornings or even at night,” said Gruber.
If the weather is right, Gruber will spend a weekday evening on the water, or an entire weekend just exploring nature.
Some of his favorite nature haunts in central Pennsylvania are Canoe Creek State Park, Prince Gallitzin State Park, and Raystown Lake.
When not on the water or hiking, Gruber can probably be found on two wheels.
Gruber also owns a motorcycle and a road bike and can often be seen pulling into the high school parking lot on his Sport Touring Suzuki motorcycle, or if he’s feeling up to it, he will even pedal the 10 miles from his home in Bellwood to school on his Trek road bike.
“One year I rode my bike 118 days out of the 180-day school year, regardless of the weather,” Gruber said.
Gruber used to choose the bicycle more often but has cut back in the last five years.
“I got hit twice, once on the way to school and another time on the way home, and thought I might die if I kept doing it,” Gruber said.
When he was younger Gruber even had aspirations to become a bicycle racer, and would even wake up before school to train.
“Some days I’d get up at 2 or 3 in the morning, and train until I had to go to school. It’s easier to ride [early in the morning] when there are no cars to watch out for,” Gruber said.
Another of Gruber’s current hobbies is sugarmaking.
A sugarmaker is someone who uses traditional methods to produce maple syrup by tapping maple trees.
Pennsylvania’s maple-sugaring season usually begins in the middle of February and runs for 4 to 8 weeks, depending on weather conditions.
Gruber has 30 tappable trees around his friend’s farm, that he taps once a year.
Gruber begins the process by drilling a small hole into the tree and inserting a tap to extract the sap.
Gruber said it takes 30-40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup.
Once he has collected enough watery sap, he boils it down in a large stainless steel vat to create syrup. The process removes water from the sap, concentrating the sugar to get the signature maple syrup consistency and flavor.
Gruber keeps some of the syrup for himself, but instead of selling it, he gives most of it away, which is fitting for his generous personality.
Gruber also shares his beautiful homegrown flowers and a variety of homegrown vegetables with his fellow teachers, friends, and neighbors.
“Bryan is always willing to assist other people in any way he can without expecting anything in return,” Tyrone High School art teacher Eric Feather said, “I’m sure this quality along with his knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for his subject are reasons his students think so highly of him.”
A major perk of being a high school teacher is that it affords Gruber time in the summer and over Christmas break to take extended trips.
One of his most exciting adventures was when he and his father ventured to Alaska on their motorcycles over summer break in 2007.
Living out of a tent on all but three nights, he and his dad took an 18,000-mile trip that spanned the entire continent over the course of his three-month summer vacation.
Gruber and his father left Pennsylvania on the last day of the school year. They had no distinct plans; all they knew was that they were going “out west.”
“I didn’t exactly know how far we would go, I was just playing it by ear and making sure that we were both still having fun,” said Gruber.
Each day, Gruber would plan out their next day’s adventures in an atlas the night before, since they had no smartphone or GPS.
However, the plan wasn’t foolproof because Gruber and his father got lost multiple times.
“We got lost in Edmonton Canada twice, once on the way there and once on the way home. I probably got lost more than that but I didn’t know because I didn’t have a GPS.” Gruber said.
All Gruber packed was a tent, a sleeping mat, a single burner stove with a pot, and three days worth of clothing.
The trip provided Gruber with an opportunity to spend quality time with his father, and they are his most treasured memories of the trip.
“He always talked about it for months after, and it wasn’t too long after the trip that we found out he had cancer,” Gruber said
Unfortunately, due to his father’s cancer, the trip was the last that they took together, which made the memories made on their trip to Alaska extra special.
Gruber took a solo kayaking trip over Christmas break last school year at the Assateague Island National Seashore, a federally protected area around a barrier island off the coast of Maryland and Virginia.
It’s known for its pristine beaches, wild horses, and trails that wind through marshland, dunes, and pine forests.
Over five days, Gruber solo kayaked over forty-two miles and hiked twenty-five miles.
Due to the time of year, he was the only one on the island with a back-country pass, which gave him the unique opportunity to interact with nature without seeing another person.
“Several of the days I woke up to the ponies surrounding my tent. I got to eat breakfast while watching them graze,” said Gruber.
Gruber spent Christmas Day tent camping on the beach. “I found hundreds of conch shells. I loaded up every table in the campgrounds for others to find,” Gruber said.
This past Christmas break Gruber took a five-day solo kayaking trip on the Suwannee River in Florida.
Beginning in southern Georgia and flowing through northern Florida to the Gulf of Mexico, the Suwannee River winds for 246 miles.
Gruber began his trip from White Springs, Florida, and traveled downstream on the Suwannee River, covering 72 miles on his journey.
Gruber said he got a late start on day one of his trip and only covered 12 miles before calling it a day at Ferry Woods River Camp.
“Each river camp has cabins and running water bathrooms. This was the nicest camp of my trip,” Gruber said.
Because it was winter, he encountered no other kayakers on the river.
“I only saw one other person on the river my entire trip,” Gruber said. “She was hiking and camped on a sandbar. I thought I would see more wildlife but it was mostly birds and fish.”
Gruber spent Christmas Day on the river and ate two servings for Christmas dinner.
“I covered 19 miles [on Christmas Day] and once again slept on a sandbar. That sandbar was covered with coyote tracks and droppings,” Gruber said.
Along the way, he took some beautiful photos of many native bird species, saw breathtaking limestone banks sculpted by the river’s currents, and even swam with Manatees.
Gruber said he lost at least 12 pounds over his 5 days on the trip, but loved it and would like to go back sometime soon to complete other parts of the Suwannee River.
Gruber’s love of nature and photography go hand-in-hand with his adventures.
“Packing [for his trips] would be easy if I left my camera equipment behind,” Gruber said.
Gruber’s interest in photography can be tied back to his STEM roots. After all, photography in its simplest form is just, in Gruber’s words, “the physics of capturing light.”
Gruber enjoys adding artificial light to many of his nightscapes, bringing a unique and haunting look to his photos, which he often shares with his friends via social media.
Over the next several years Gruber plans to continue his summer and Christmas break adventures, with some added variables.
“My new thing for these trips is trying to fully live off the land. I want to try and catch enough fish to sustain me throughout the trip,” Gruber said.
Although he has not determined exactly when he will retire, Gruber is in the final stretch of his career and his plans for the future include more of what he’s done his entire life: nature, traveling, learning, and trying new things.
But when he does finally decide to retire, Gruber has some lofty plans.
“I want to try and live a full year outside of my house while traveling. I would like to live out of a tent for most of it, but I might end up buying a motorhome,” Gruber said.
While everyone agrees that Gruber lives an interesting life, he doesn’t exactly see it that way.
“I don’t necessarily think my life is interesting, I just think it’s much different from other people’s lives, which is why they find it interesting. Everyone is interesting. You just have to take the time to listen to their story,” Gruber said.
Elaine Conrad • Feb 7, 2025 at 2:36 pm
A life well lived, Mr. Gruber! Time spent in nature is never wasted. Wishing many more adventures for you!!
Your pictures are tremendous.
Cami Weyer • Feb 7, 2025 at 2:05 pm
good job tyler!
Steve Everhart • Feb 7, 2025 at 1:12 pm
Great article, Tyler. One of the Eagle Eye’s all-time best.