"Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach."- Aristotle.
Michael Suchan sits in an oversized navy blue St. Augustine Hawks hoodie at his desk.
His desk, which he leaves frequently to go teach gym, math, computers.
His desk, where he's met with countless students over the years as vice principal, discussing classes, homework, being the disciplinarian, being the hero.
His desk, where after a hard day's work, he finds himself sitting, the way he envisioned it thirty-something years ago when he scrapped the idea of a commerce career in favour of a job that would put him in contact with people on a daily basis.
Now Suchan sits in his office, his last days as vice-principal of St. Augustine School in Humboldt ticking down before his retirement.
Suchan is 55 ("Freedom 55," he interjects with a laugh) and is just as nostalgic as he is reflective on his rewarding career in the educational system.
"When I started teaching at Muenster School way back when, I knew this was the career for me. This is where I belong," Suchan says.
He grew up on a farm outside Humboldt, the youngest of 10 children, the son of hard working farmers and supportive parents who more than encouraged him to achieve a university education in a time when it was the twelfth grade, then the real world.
"My dad was always a little pensive. He certainly supported me but back then, not a lot of people left their farms in favour of university. But when I graduated, he was proud. I could tell how proud they both were," Suchan recalls.
Growing up in rural Saskatchewan before moving to Humboldt after the second grade, Suchan attended one-room school houses and bigger facilities like St. Dominic and Humboldt Collegiate Institute.
He had not just one, but many teachers who made an impact on him.
"I was really fortunate. I always had great teachers. I wasn't a teacher's pet but I had a positive experience in school growing up," he says.
Still, it wasn't his teachers who inspired Suchan to pursue a teaching career.
He's indebted to baseball and hockey for that.
"I played a lot of sports growing up and I was especially good at hockey and baseball. But what I loved about it was that I got to interact with people on a daily basis while doing the sports I loved," Suchan says.
It was then, as a teenaged athlete, that Suchan realized why he was best suited as a teacher.
"I could combine my love of sports with my love of people," he says.
"It was perfect."
He attended St. Peter's College in Muenster, taking the arts & science program before obtaining a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Naturally, he majored in phys-ed and math.
After doing his placement at Muenster School, he got word that the Grade 5 homeroom teacher was quitting mid-school year.
Suchan put his name in for the job.
"I figured 'Hey, why not.' I had really enjoyed my internship there," he says.
The school officials were apprehensive ("I was really young", Suchan says) but knew he had experience at the school.
So, at just 21, Suchan got the gig----- and stayed on there for 13 years.
His impact as a teacher wasn't just confined to the classroom; he coached soccer, baseball, track and field, the perfect avenue he had once dreamt of.
However, in 1992 Suchan became the vice-principal of St. Augustine, applying for the position after his wife noticed the job ad and encouraged him to take it.
"I was really happy where I was [at Muenster School] but I knew I wanted to take it," Suchan says.
After a couple of years, Suchan even undertook the principal position at St. Dominic School for a year.
"I just loved it. I really, really enjoyed it ," Suchan says, noting it differs from the vice-principal role in that "the buck stops in that chair."
But after a year, the principal returned to the school and Suchan returned to St. Augustine.
And a lot has changed in his 34-year teaching career: he teaches computers now as well.
"When I started, of course we didn't have computers. Now they have laptops, tablets, even smart boards. Chalk boards are gone in favour of white boardseverything is different now. Technology has really changed teaching," Suchan reflects.
He also points out the way the role of the teacher has evolved.
"They're more accountable nowadays because parents are more involved in the curriculum. They can see everything that's going on now, through websites, newsletters. Everything has become more interactive," he says.
Suchan says back when he was a pupil, school and parenting were fairly removed from each other.
"Your parent just trusted the teacher was doing everything right. But now we're much more communicative with parents; they're more aware of what's going on," Suchan says.
In a career that was conceived in the days of struggling students being held back a year, Suchan is glad the education system has evolved.
"Teachers are now more in tune with a student's learning abilities. They're more involved in teaching in a more personal setting, so the student gets that needed one-on-one attention," Suchan says.
Still, he sometimes worries that the importance of school has deflated over the years. Students don't seem to have as much assigned homework nowadays and it appears as though other things outside of school may take precedence.
"School is of the utmost importance. Our academic standards are high here but we make teaching really fun," Suchan says. "And if our kids become good citizens, we've succeeded."
He's talking about people like Brianne Theisen, an alumnus of St. Augustine. Suchan was her first coach.
"There's countless former students I've run into whose names may not be in the paper but are doing well. So well. I just love seeing that," he says with a smile.
A few of Suchan's students form outside his office. It's time for gym class.
"Go set up guys," he instructs.
He pulls off his hoodie to reveal another St. Augustine Hawks T-shirt and hurries down the hall to the gymnasium.
The kids are playing a dodge ball-esque game, with rubber balls being flung through the air, running and cheering filling the room, Mr. Suchan in the thick of it all, smiling and laughing.
"I'm gonna miss the relationships the most, hands down," he says. "With the students, my colleagues, the parents."
On June 26, Suchan will hang up his whistle for the final time, clear off his desk and head home to his family and grandkids, one chapter closed, another one just beginning.
A career well-spent, by a man who wasn't just there to teach, but to understand his students.
Only a few made from that mould.
