One last time Chemistry teacher Tom Danculovich (at right) discussed an experiment with one of his groups of students, who included (back to camera) Autumn Murray and Caitlin Robinson, Ethan Peterson and Beth Hoyt, with Katie Stone just out of the picture at right. Mr. D is retiring after 40 years of teaching at Staples. (Staples World photo by Tom Crawford) A teacher in Staples since the fall of 1969, Mr. D is reluctantly retiring.

“I’m not burned out,” Tom Danculovich said in his science classroom last Wednesday, a few minutes after receiving the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award from this year’s senior class. Deciding to call it quits, he said, “... has been an emotional roller coaster. I know I’ll be doing some subbing.”

Danculovich, who will be turning 65 this September, could have retired seven years ago. He stayed, he said, because, “I like teaching. I like being around these young people because they energize you.”

He enjoys the satisfaction of seeing his students mature, not just during the four years of high school but afterward as well. “It’s quite a feeling you get when you see them when they come back from college and say how they enjoyed this class or that class. That’s what it’s all about.”

Many things have changed since a young Tom and Diane Danculovich drove into town for a job interview in the summer of 1969. The school building, the school structure, all except for the teacher student relationship, are different. Some changes he thinks are okay, some are not.

Tom was a graduate of Hibbing Junior College and the University of Minnesota with a degree in sociology when he decided he needed to start over and get a second degree, this one from St. Cloud State, with a BS in chemistry.

That summer, after graduating, he had ten interviews scheduled at various schools. At Staples, he said, “I talked to (Principal) Bill Uhrich, (Superintendent) Duane Lund and (Lund’s secretary) Harriet Dent. I signed a contract before I left town,” he said. It was not because he loved the dingy, dimly lit and tight classrooms in the 1917 high school building. As far as the school facilities looked, Staples was the worst setting he had seen. ‘I signed because I was impressed with their philosophy of education,” he said.

He signed and they stayed. “There’s a lot to be said for this community. I came and I liked what I saw.”

He got into coaching, working mostly with cross country and track for his first 20 years or more. After several years as an assistant, in the mid 1980s ,he was head coach of girls cross country and of girls track. He also got involved in two outside activities that he is still enthused about.

He followed music teacher Stan Carlson into the Quadna Mountain Ski Patrol back when both were a few years younger. That also led to him taking First Responder classes. “Stan was head of the ski patrol and he said our ski patrol needs a person trained in First Aid. So I took a First Aid class.” Other more advanced classes followed, and now years later, he is a veteran of 40 years of ski patrol and 30 years on the Staples Ambulance service.

He began teaching an elective first aid class at school, in addition to his science classes. “We started with just one adult (Rescue) Annie and one baby Annie,” he said. Now they have several Rescue Annie’s and much other equipment used in that class. “Now the program will likely be dropped,” he said, without any one to teach it.

Over the years, he’s seen a gradual decline in support for education from the parents, a social change he does not like. He had his share of complaints from students and from parents. He tries to show both exactly what is expected in his classes, what assignments are required. “I lay it all out for parents to see what everyone is required to do. The majority of parents and students catch on.”

He feels since the Middle School concept was initiated, there has been an adjustment period for ninth graders. “It’s been a big challenge for kids from middle school to develop a work ethic and a sense of deadlines.” But after a few weeks of classes, he said, 80 percent or more of the students realize they have to work in his classes.

The teachers’ dress code of coats and ties has all but disappeared, with teachers in blue jeans just like kids. “You can dress relaxed and still portray a professional image,” Tom said.

“The key is to be consistent. Be consistent and treat everyone the same. When someone complains to me that I don’t like them or that I don’t like their child. I answer: I treat all students the same. It’s not that I don’t like someone. I don’t like what they are doing, but that’s not a sign that I don’t like them.”

He’s had more than one success story. One student years later sent a post card thanking Tom for making her stay in one of his first year chemistry classes some years before. Now, the post card said, she was in graduate school in bio chemistry.

He has other former students who are medical doctors. One of his First Responder class grads is now flying for Mayo Clinic as a flight medic.

“The teacher’s biggest job is to just try to discover how to help you motivate yourself, “ he said. “Everybody learns differently and everybody studies differently, he said. “Some learn quietly, some need noise and distractions to learn.” He recalled his own inability to study in noisy dorm rooms, leaving his roommate behind to study in the library many nights.

He has learned from others. “We have a great faculty here, so many dedicated teachers. There are some very unselfish and caring individuals teaching here.”

When told that Gene Mattila, another recipient of the Teacher of the Year honor from students, said afterward that Danculovich should have had that for the past ten years, Tom was touched. “Considering all that Gene has accomplished, in and out of the classroom, if I can accomplish one-tenth of what he has, that means a lot to me.”

His future plans are uncertain, other than he will be in the classroom mentoring his replacement for the first month next September. He intends to continue working on the Staples Ambulance Service and with the ski patrol. He has a year-old Lund fishing boat and it’s going to get even more use than before. He may even play enough golf at The Vintage this summer to warrant his membership, for a change.

And throw in some hunting time this fall, more than he’s been used to. Chances are he will find retirement something he can get used to.