If you aren’t in World Civilizations or Global Studies, you may not be familiar with one of the newest and youngest faces in Craig’s staff.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mr. Salmon. No, not pronounced like the fish, but as “Saul-mon.”

Not only was Mr. Salmon welcomed as a new teacher, but he also was welcomed back as a fellow alumnus. In fact, he sat in the seats you now sit in, graduating in 2013.

Even past graduating, Mr. Salmon found a way to continue to enjoy his favorite history classes of Global Studies and World Civilizations. It is all he ever expected when becoming a teacher.

Not only does the joy of teaching include loving the classes taught, but also loving the students. Mr. Salmon expressed that his favorite part of his job was forming relationships with students and making jokes with them.

Although he mainly teaches 9th, 10th, and 11th graders, Mr. Salmon is welcome to talk with anyone who’d like to. If school goes back to in-person, be sure to stop by room 518 and give him a warm greeting!

Before he came to Craig, Mr. Salmon taught one year at Beloit Memorial, making this his second year of teaching. 

Besides teaching, Mr. Salmon plans to coach both track and cross country as he is a lover of sports. He may consider club advising in later years, but for now, he is sticking to coaching.

Mr. Salmon shared great joy of being back in his hometown and is intrigued by how it has changed along with how current students continue to encourage change for the better.

In fact, he is teaching in the same classroom he happened to learn in when he attended Craig. However, the room is very different with the changes of various teachers passing through the room through the years. Where white walls used to be now hang historical art.

Upon coming back to Craig, Mr. Salmon was delighted to see not only the faces of old teachers but also one of his best friends. In fact, Mr. Pechnik also graduated in the year 2013 from Craig and made a fine addition to our staff two years ago.

Mr. Salmon went from Pre-Kindergarten to High School with Mr. Pechnik, so now he is happy to be reunited with an old friend by teaching together, even if Mr. Pechnik is located all the way in the art wing.

It is safe to say that if you appreciate fun teachers that crack jokes and loves all things sports, you should definitely stop by the 500 hall.

In fact, Mr. Salmon expressed that not only shall his classes be fun, but rather simple, much like how life can be.

“It’s as easy as showing up and doing the work,” Mr. Salmon quotes, “You’ll make it at anything if you just show up and do the work.”

Before he began working, Mr. Salmon went to Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin for his graduate and undergraduate education.

During this time, he earned a degree in history and minored in global studies, mastering in education. He also ran track and cross country which took up most of his time.

Mr. Salmon decided to become a teacher because of his enthusiasm for history. He loves talking about the world and our past, using all the lessons learned from  history and tying them to the present.

 The best way Mr. Salmon knew he could pursue a career in such a hobby is by teaching it. In a way, teaching isn’t only the want to educate children, but the need to share the knowledge you yourself has gained.

Luckily, teaching was a no brainer for Mr. Salmon. His parents were the type of people who are always supportive. In this way, they allowed him to pursue whatever he wanted. Good thing too, because Craig has gained an enthusiastic teacher.

Although mostly expressing himself through pursuing what he loves, there might be something about Mr. Salmon that you can relate to personally.

Aside from history, he will run and work out. Upon other things, he loves a good book. Mr. Salmon especially values family, friends, and a good cup of coffee.

At home, he has been living with two roommates since freshman year in order to cut down costs, seeing as it is only his second year working as a teacher.

For any big book fanatics, he just read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa which is a samurai epic. If you prefer shows, perhaps you can discuss episodes from the hit show “New Girl” or a mystery show, “Psych”.

Mr. Salmon loves all types of music for the most part, but his favorite song is  “Stomp and Holler”  which was his number-one played Spotify song for 2020, sung by The Head and the Heart (Caamp).

A fact you might know about this new teacher is that he uses a VHS player to watch movies. If that isn’t too surprising, that is because Mr. Salmon hasn’t done anything too interesting to tell you about yet, but definitely plans on it in the future.

One of these plans could be the fact he dreams of completing an Ironman race in his lifetime. He feels that completing an Ironman would only be right for someone who loves running as much as he does.

Despite having a relatively normal life in Wisconsin, Mr. Salmon dreams big. He wishes to one day run with the bulls in Spain or canoe down the Amazon. Perhaps his global studies have influenced him to not only teach but to travel.

In fact, Mr. Salmon shared a rather interesting story about his first trip ever out of the country. During his freshman year of college, Mr. Salmon went on a mission trip down to Guatemala to help build some schools.

The first day he was down there, he and his friends kicked around a big rock to imitate soccer, but not quite seeing as soccer balls shouldn’t break bones. Already before the first night, Mr. Salmon had shattered his toe.

Three days later, a planned activity for his group was to hike the tallest volcano in Central America which would take about 9 hours. The irony was strong because of the pain no one knew he was in.

Not only was it the first time out of the country, but he didn’t actually know it was shattered since the nearest hospitals were very far away. Since Mr. Salmon managed to move his toe slightly, he assumed it wasn’t broken and attempted to continue on.

Out of commission for the first day, Mr. Salmon debated going back home, but the trip was paid for in full meaning he would have to suck it up.

He continued to walk up the volcano as his friends gave him a tough time saying, “It’s not that bad,” as if it was a pride thing. However, there was a lesson to be learned.

From the continued pressure on the broken toe, the hospital revealed it was still broken a month after the accident. Despite the bad outcome, Mr. Salmon still managed to survive the trip and tell an interesting story.

Craig’s staff was certainly excited to take in Mr. Salmon with his love of history, sports, and jokes, and he hopes you do too.