Mr. Becker; a social studies teacher, Link Advisor, and golf enthusiast. Those familiar with Mr. Becker know him for his energy and positivity no matter if it’s first hour or last. I caught up with Mr. Becker to learn more about his hobbies and his life!

What was it like being the leader of the LINK coordinators and what did you enjoy about your time leading LINK?

“Each of the link coordinators had a specific role in the process of link. I think the women did more work than the men to be honest! Mr. Snobeck led the training part of it and I led the ceremonies. I really enjoyed working with upperclassmen in the link training but also introducing ninth graders to friends and the social aspect of high school.” 

How long have you been teaching and what specific things do you like to teach (units, skills, etc)?

“I’ve been teaching for 28 years, all at Eagan High School. As I mentioned, I didn’t start teaching until I was 31. I was in the business world before that, but I did not feel fulfilled, so I got my Master’s degree so I could come teach. I felt super fortunate to land at Eagan High School.  I teach economics to seniors, civics to freshmen, and a new class called True North which is a leadership class to grades ten through twelve, which has been a joy of my teaching career because Mr. Comer helped me write the class. I just think that their is so much for kids to get out of that class because they learn so much about themselves and their character. I think my favorite thing about teaching isn’t as much the content, even though the content is important, but I care more that kids are doing okay in life and getting to where they want to go. So, my best experiences I’ve had with kids is just helping them to learn more about themselves and to launch them to where they want to go.”

What do you like to do for fun outside of teaching?

“Outside of teaching, I love to travel with my wife. We have a son who is married and lives in California, so we visit there a lot. We travel with our daughter who is 28 and as a family, we love to travel. We’ve been to Disney nine times, which is fun! I love to golf, and I have some part-time jobs outside of school like being a part of hockey schools in the summer, retreats for youth frontiers, which include respect retreats. I just love to share time with friends and family.”

What is something most people don’t know about you?

“Something most people don’t know about me is that I’d say I’m more of an introvert than people think. I’m an extrovert when I’m teaching and around kids, but when I leave, I like to spend time quietly because I need that to recharge my batteries. I also don’t know if people know how genuinely lucky I feel to be a teacher. I think since I didn’t start teaching until later in life, I’m grateful every day for the opportunity that I get to work with kids.”