Mick Skalsky

There is a young lady that teaches across the hall from me that’s just starting her second year as a Teacher.

I remember meeting her for the first-time last year in August. The thing I remember from that initial introduction is her smile. It’s just swallows her whole face – this big beautiful, smile is so contagious and welcoming and eager to please. Over the next few weeks, we got to know each other as she integrated into our 4^th grade team and we stared down a school year unlike any other. Faced with ideas like Distance Learning and Hybrid Schedules… she and I were more on equal ground than either of us really knew. Her, in her first year and me, in my twentieth.

At one point our conversation turned to MENTORSHIP. Ya see, Krista was assigned a Mentor by the administration. Administrators that use acronyms like Q-Comp and PLC – acronyms that the elders warned us about as they approached retirement... Krista’s assigned mentor was a bit of a go-getter herself….kind of a Teacher’s Pet – one of those gals that volunteered for everything.  ... As a first-year teacher, Krista wondered why one staff member was assigned to her over another. It seemed odd to her that the guy across the hall, me, that had been teaching for 20 years, wasn’t her assigned mentor.

I vividly remember our conversation last fall. I told her, “Krista mentorship isn’t an assignment. Mentorship isn’t checking a box or a stipend for talking about the topic of the month.

Being a Mentor is something you DO.”

Being a mentor to someone means being available when things are going well and when things aren’t. In the teaching world, that might mean providing a great worksheet or a helpful tip on a Math Lesson. It might mean stepping in so that your hallmate can take 5 and use the bathroom. Being a Mentor means helping young teachers navigate the world of education…helping with things that aren’t taught at the university.

Being a real Mentor goes beyond discussing work all day though. Being a Mentor requires trust and understanding that is developed over time. Friends and Mentors talk about Life…Life’s biggest and brightest moments and sometimes the bad times too.

Mentorship is something you DO. – Mick Skalsky was my unassigned mentor.

I learned a lot from Skalsky right off the bat. In July of 2001 I got a call from Mr. Koepp for an interview in a town called Rush City. Although I knew I had applied for the position, I didn’t even know where Rush was. Without Google Maps or Siri to guide me, Mr. Koepp led me in and a couple of months later after I had sworn my oath to Direct Instruction, I had my first teaching job. I was part of a 6^th grade team with Mike Skalsky and Chris Inman – lucky for me, Sue Williams was off having babies. Anyway, we all got along fine and regularly I would let on that I only planned to be here for a couple of years…3 tops. I wanted to work my way back North towards Bemidji or maybe even back home to Lake of the Woods. And every time I brought up my escape plan, there’d be Mick telling me to “give our little town a chance”. Telling me to be careful and warning me that he had that same plan a hundred years ago. Him and Gwen hit Rush City in 1970 and if you ask Mike, he only planned to be here for a couple of years…3 tops. Maybe work his way back North….to the Big Lake and Silver Bay. “Careful,” he’d say, “you might end up Mayor of this place!”

Well, I’m not built for a career in politics but here I am 21 years later, raising my family here and still thinking about “back home”. Skalsky did the same thing. Raised his family here. All 4 kids. A whole mess of grandkids…Rush City is home base for his crew….but I know Mick loved it back home. Maybe one of my biggest regrets is that I never weaseled my way in to be included on a grouse hunt up near Silver Bay. Mick loved the Shack and I’ve heard more stories about the Old Railroad Grade – that was home to Mick.

1970 – can you imagine it? What a great time to be young and free in Rush City. Mike and Gwen Skalsky came to Rush City to start a life together about the same time as Laakso and Kosloski, the Bungerts, the Trips, the Louzeks  and the Peshia’s, Beuhring and Meissner, and the Driessigs…a veritable who’s who of the cool kids in education. The 1970’s….wow, what an exciting time! I heard many stories about these folks getting together, hanging out until all hours of the night - probably swapping lesson plans ….I just wish that I could have been a part of all that but I guess I was too busy being born.

My Mentor taught me to have a sense of humor about things.

Mentorship is something you DO.

For young people in Rush City there are a few things that serve as Rights of Passage. Things that bind them all to small town life forever. Kids play Summer Rec and earn that blue t-shirt and ball cap that screams, I’m from Rush City. Kids go to the pool and measure small town time by passing the swim test for the first time and earning that orange wristband. Rights of passage for so many… and having Mr. Skalsky for a teacher became synonymous with growing up as a kid in Rush City. “My teacher is the Mayor!” The STONE FROG cursive writing assignment, Skalsky’s Rockets and the 6^th grade Ski Trip to Wild Mountain (Where Skalsky lit himself on fire one time trying to hide a cigarette from the kids) …Mr. Skalsky taught me to challenge my students. To have fun with my students and to love my students and work hard for them and they’ll work hard for you.

Mentorship is something you DO.

Real easy to be a 9 year old’s favorite teacher….give them a sucker for answering a question correct in math and they’re going to color you a picture…hang that picture up and they’re your new BFF…. Real easy to be the cool guy when you’re doing rockets or rolling out the VCR…I’m just saying that it’s not hard to impress 11-year-olds either…but you know what is good measurement of a Career in Education??? When grown adults constantly refer to you as one of their favorite all time teachers. Mr. Skalsky was a guy that touched so many lives, not just taught them about fractions and great introductory paragraphs…but a guy that got the best out of you, held you accountable and some how made you feel appreciated and loved at school so that you became the very best version of you possible….that’s Skalsky. Grown adults tell me all the time that he was their favorite teacher in grade school…

So kind. And gentle. And funny. And smart.

Mentorship is something you DO.

Mick Skalsky taught me so much more than what it means to be a teacher. When I was a young husband, Skalsky listened when Michele and I had our differences. He taught me about loving and appreciating our wives as extensions of ourselves. He taught me about understanding their great contributions to running the household and Skalsky taught me that sometimes it’s best to just shut up and listen to your wife. “Do what your wife tells you.”, he’d say.

When I was a young father, Mike Skalsky taught me about being a dad – a dad that takes time for each of his children. To love them fiercely and to include them in everything that you can. Skalsky taught me to put in the hard work early with your own kids, to lay the groundwork when they’re young so that they become great reflections of your family and its values.

Mike Skalsky was a MENTOR to me in every sense of the word…..

I am so grateful for him and for his family. I am honored to be here today, on a day that is difficult for so many of us….

Let me leave you with one more quick one….I got the message from Gwen that Mick was gone early last Wednesday. As you can imagine, I fell apart and thankfully, our principal excused me from school right away that morning. After composing myself, I felt drawn to Mick and Gwen’s house. I honestly didn’t know that I’d find the family gathered there but they so warmly welcomed me in… Gwen met me in the kitchen with a hug and tears and then walked me into the front room where I was able to say Goodbye to Skalsky. I kneeled at his bedside and prayed over him. I thanked the Lord for this wonderful man and having put him in my life. I cried like a baby.

And then I stood and put my arms around Gwen and said, “He was my best friend…..which is weird because you guys are like a hundred years older than me.”

She punched me and we hugged some more.

Mentorship is something you DO.