Many highschool students on campus are familiar with Jack Warlof, the relatively new history teacher. What some may not be familiar with, however, is that he used to be a student here at SRA.
Mr. Warlof received his highschool diploma here, at this very school. When asked who his favorite teacher was, he said he didn’t have one, as he’s not a person that easily decides on favorites. However, his favorite subject was definitely history. So he said, if based on which subject was his favorite, his favorite teachers would be the history teachers: Mr. Gaylord and Mr. Solan. These teachers, and some others, were the ones who inspired him to become a history teacher.
“But I know that I definitely felt pushed in that direction from Mr. Gaylord, as well as Mr. Solan… and that’s what pushed me in the direction of going to the school that I went to.”, Warlof said, “Because I’m originally from the Midwest, and I wanted to get back to the Midwest, but the school that I went to is specifically a teaching school.”
Mr. Warlof was taught by some teachers who still work at this school. Being asked how it felt to work alongside those who taught him in his high school days, Mr Warlof said that it felt a bit weird at first, but was also really cool and beneficial. He spoke about how sometimes, it’s hard for new teachers to get used to a school’s way of doing things. For him this wasn’t really a problem, because he had gone to SRA for years, plus he had the support of his prior teachers.
“There’s a lot of stuff that I learned from them, of course, as a student, and there’s tons that I can learn from them now, as an educator,” Warlof said.
The process of becoming a teacher is a long and difficult one. For Mr. Warlof, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, but he also got several credits from other schools to save himself some money. He had to come up with tons of material for observation classes on the fly, which he said was a skill that was very useful for when he had to do pretty much the same for last year’s World History class.
“Having to make out a whole semester’s worth of content, just on the fly is really, really tough, but, it [learning to make a curriculum quickly] came in handy,” Warlof said.
Having been both a student of history and a teacher of history, one might be curious which role Mr. Warlof prefers. When asked, Mr. Warlof explained that both roles entail different things. He talked about how he finds history interesting and fun to learn about, but he also enjoys being a teacher and bringing students into the past.
“I don’t know if I’d say I enjoy being a teacher more than I enjoy being a student,” Warlof said. “I’d probably say they’re equal. Both are really fun and both have merits.”
According to Mr. Warlof, SRA has changed for the better over the years. He said that he felt SRA had reached a good balance of leniency and strictness, and that he appreciated that. When asked what about the school made him want to come back and teach here, Mr Warlof responded that he likes the ethics and morals that this school upholds. The morals taught here, the students, the teachers, and just the general vibe of the people here.
“The kids are amazing,” Warlof said, “I can tell that you guys want to learn, you’re here to learn and do well, and whether that’s to go to college, whether that’s to go into the armed forces, or maybe to go into some sort of trade. I can tell that people have an investment for why they’re here. Maybe not so much when I give you guys a lot of notes a couple days in a row, but for the most part, yes.”
Mr. Warlof talked about one of his biggest accomplishments during his time at SRA. One he would carry with pride for the rest of his life. In his own words,
“I was voted best dressed, and that’s how it should be,” Warlof said.
