Rush

Physics teacher, Jason Rush attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Illinois. Mr. Rush participated in cross country, swimming, track, and played bass in the orchestra during his freshman year. One of his greatest accomplishments was when both his cross country and swim teams were conference champions all four years he was in school and were able to beat their rival school Sandburg. Rush enjoyed physics in high school, but his favorite class was US History because of his teacher. If asked to describe himself in three words Mr. Rush would say tired, clueless, and athletic. Mr. Rush spent a lot of time running, and one of his most embarrassing moments was when he fell off the track and his pants fell off. This wasn’t the only time Mr. Rush was seen running in his underwear. One time his team decided to climb to the top of an electrical tower in their underwear. Mr. Rush, being the big mighty senior, climbed the highest and the team left him and took his clothes as well. Not only did Rush spend a lot of time out running but he enjoyed listening to Led Zeppelin. Mr. Rush was nicknamed Gilbert from the Revenge of the Nerds because his friends thought he looked like him. When Mr. Rush thinks back at high school he would tell us, “ Whether your high school experience is good or bad, you will remember those experiences forever. However, your high school experience doesn’t totally define you. Hopefully you continue to grow and change.”

Friedrich

History teacher, Paul Friedrich graduated from Centerville High School in Ohio in 1981. If Friedrich could describe himself in 3 words as a high school student they would be dorky, friendly, and funny. He would consider himself so dorky that when he was struggling in chemistry class he would skip the class to go to the library and work on things for chemistry. He was also involved in speech team, baseball, and theatre. One of his biggest high school achievements was being an individual state qualifier for speech team. Back in high school, the biggest thing to have among most students were mood rings and skinny ties. When Mr. Friedrich thinks back to high school, he knew he always wanted to be a psychology major, but it wasn’t until later in college that he decided he wanted to be a history teacher. Friedrich and his friends spent time hanging out at the mall and listening to The Rolling Stones. Being in high school, Friedrich learned that, “Who you are with is more important than what you are doing. I still have my core of friends that I was very close with in high school. I became a more confident person because of the people I surrounded myself with. I was a completely different person from when I entered high school until graduation and I owe that to all my friends. So choose your friends wisely and treasure them because they shape who you become as a person.”

Mason

Special services teacher, Colin Mason graduated from St. Viator in 1996. His favorite class was always math, but mainly because the teachers really liked him. Mr. Mason had some trouble in the science department, especially in Chemistry, maybe he needed some help from Mrs. Etnyre. Mason spent much of his time playing sports. He started off freshman year in soccer, but finished his last two years on the football team. His other two sports were baseball and basketball. If Mason were to name his most embarrassing moment, it would have to be when he asked a girl to homecoming and she said she had to wait to answer because she heard someone else was asking her, and it wound up she went with that other guy. Poor Mason. Funny, likable, and average at sports, young Mr. Mason enjoyed listening to Pearl Jam and Guns N’ Roses. Similar to the Cougar Award, Mason won the Lion MVP award his senior year for baseball which he marked as one of his greatest high school achievements. When asked to give our students some wisdom about his high school experience as a whole, Mason said, “Look to your left and right, you may not see some of these people for the rest of your life. The bonds you created in high school are some of the most special things you will ever create in your life, so treasure them because in just a few short months you may never see them again.”

Carroll

History teacher, Amanda Carroll attended Appleton West High School in Wisconsin. Involved, outgoing, and feisty Mrs. Carroll spent much of her time in high school in debate, choir, student council executive board, and some of her school musicals. We can definitely see how this all helped her to become the phenomenal rapper she is today. Mrs. Carroll experienced one of her greatest achievements when she was accepted into the National Women’s Honor Choir as both a junior and a senior when there were only 14 members. Often called Mandy even up to this day, Mrs. Carroll enjoyed going to concerts with her friends. Some of these included Summerfest and Dave Matthews. Mrs. Carroll enjoyed US History and choir, but had some trouble in math and science; especially chemistry. Although she enjoyed history in high school, she never expected to become a teacher at all. Mrs. Carroll, along with all her friends, expected her to become a lawyer, but it was not until senior year in college she decided she wanted to be a teacher. Mrs. Carroll created some of her favorite high school memories on her choir trip to Italy and Greece. If Mrs. Carroll were to give us some advice about high school it would be that, “Everyone is always so excited about high school to end, but you need to appreciate it because it is the last time in your life that you will see people you care about for a long extended time. That all changes when you go to college and later in life, so it is such a unique environment and you should always try and make the best of it.”