Joshua Skodack started working at Community High School (CHS) at the beginning of this school year and they have already garnered the admiration of students and teachers alike. Hailing from Muskegon, Michigan, this science-and-math butt-kicking athletic inspiration has an education from Purdue University, many years of teaching experience and a dedication for teaching students.
Skodack began their teaching part-time as a student teacher in South Bradford for Thurston High School after graduating from Purdue University with a degree in physics. Soon after, they started to teach full time at a high school in Livonia. They moved to Pathways in 2016, and came to our very own CHS in 2024.
Skodack’s short time at CHS has already brought joy to their hearts because of both the staff and the students.
“I love it here because it feels like one big family,” Skodack said. “Everybody’s so helpful. Everybody loves to collaborate. Everybody’s been extremely welcoming.”
Skodack believes that teaching is all about trust between students and teachers.
“Students learn the best when they can trust you, and you can trust them to make mistakes in the classroom,” Skodack said. “Because mistakes are when we truly learn.”
This is why Skodack aims to maintain a caring and respectful environment inside their classroom. They work to get to know their students in order to build the trust that is needed for a classroom to thrive. Skodack recognizes that math can be a scary and intimidating subject and believes that they can make it fun and exciting for their students.
During Skodack’s own high school experience, they loved playing music. Skodack played the trumpet in both the regular marching band and the competitive marching band. They won states three times and placed third at Nationals. They also played guitar in their high school’s Jazz band, which makes CHS feel even more familiar to them.
Music is a big part of Skodacks life, both because of their own experience with music and through their wife, who is a music therapist and plays a variety of instruments.
Besides teaching and playing music, Skodack loves to run. Skodack has been running for as long as they can remember. Their dad was a track coach, and Skodack recalls going to their dad’s track meets when they were younger. In middle school, they decided to start running track instead of just watching it. Since then, Skodack has run six marathons and counting, including the Detroit Marathon three times. Skodack’s favorite part about running the Detroit marathon is seeing Gretchen Whitemer at the end of the race, where she always places her seat.
Skodack has also been skiing since they were five. Skodack’s dad was the ski club advisor at their school so Skodack joined their dad on many of the school ski trips. They usually ski at Boyne or Crystal Mountain, but they have also traveled to Colorado multiple times and skied at Steamboat and Aspen. During one of their trips to Colorado they also taught themself to snowboard.
Skodack is hopeful that their time at CHS will be filled with good memories, lots of laughter and solving many math problems. They feel like CHS is already a home for them and their passions, and they’re looking forward to all of the opportunities CHS has to offer.
