Mid-Year, AHS Teacher Leaves

In early March, Business Education teacher Michael Dahle will resign from Arrowhead.

Dahle, who has been teaching at Arrowhead for six years, says he wasn’t planning on leaving Arrowhead this year, especially not in the middle of a semester.

Dahle says resigning from Arrowhead wasn’t an easy decision for him, but the right opportunity came along, and he had to take a chance and risk it.

In the position Dahle accepted, an Instructional Designer, he will still be teaching, just to a different audience. This offer, he says, was different because he connected so well with the other people working for the company.

This isn’t the first time a company has reached out to Dahle to offer him a position, but this is the first one that really interested him.

“Companies like John Deere, GM, and Harley Davidson, when releasing new products, need people to have access to a training manual, and this company designs the training for the customers who would buy [the product] as well as the technicians who work on them,” says Dahle.

During his time teaching at Arrowhead, Dahle has helped and connected with many students, especially those in the eSports club he directed. Because he is so passionate about eSports, Dahle says he would still like to explore finding a career involving gaming. For now, it has become more of a passion project.

Senior Julia Sajdowitz has been in the eSports club since it began during her sophomore year. She says she likes how inclusive the club is and how it can also be taken seriously when the members are competing in national leagues.

“I also really like that it was time to see Dahle when I didn’t have class with him and get updates on his eSports advocacy work,” says Sajdowitz.

Junior Cameron Carr joined the club late in his freshman year.

“I feel like the club will still be fun as if Dahle was running it, but it will feel so much different not having him there to mess with or make jokes with,” Carr says.

Sophomore Jack Carthew says he has been in the club for about a year and a half now. He says he loves being in the club because it gives him the chance to play video games competitively, and there’s no other sport he’s found himself interested in. He has made new friends through the eSports club. Carthew describes the atmosphere as heartwarming, and he loves to see so many people come together.

Carthew says, “Dahle not running the club I think will just be strange, mostly because he’s so friendly with all of the students and loves to play video games himself, and wouldn’t hesitate to join in on our gaming and laugh and have fun along with us. He treated the students like they were more than students to him, he treated them like they were his true friends, myself included.”

Dahle says he loves running the eSports club, and would be thrilled to continue as the advisor of this club even though he won’t be teaching at Arrowhead anymore.

“I’d happily give up my Friday afternoons to hang out and play some video games with students still. I think I have as much fun on Friday’s as they do,” says Dahle. “If I can’t, there are two other staff members who could maybe be convinced to take it over.”

Sajdowitz, Carthew, and Carr all express that Dahle has made Arrowhead a better school. They said he has opened the doors for students with interests in video games and programming through the eSports and programming clubs, contributed greatly to the Integrated Learning Program, and he has taught technology and business classes.

Carr says, “Since he created the League of Legends team, which I am on, I have had to have good grades to ensure I can play at LAN tournaments and because of that, my grades have gone from around 60% in two to three classes to all A’s and B’s.”

Dahle also shows compassion and kindness to every student he comes across, and Carr says Dahle is the most personable teacher he’s ever met.

Carthew says Dahle helped make student’s dreams of playing video games competitively come true through the eSports club.

“By the end of my freshman year, Dahle had successfully set up an entire state-wide eSports conference for the next year,” Carthew says. “An entire tournament involving over ten schools, all by himself. That, to me, is incredible, and it shows me that he really believed in us. He really loves the industry and the idea of kids being able to do such a thing in high school. For sure I can say I would not be where I am today without eSports and Mr. Dahle.”

The students that Dahle has affected throughout his time at Arrowhead say they are sad to see him go, but are also happy for him.

Sajdowitz says she was devastated when received the email from Dahle telling her that he was resigning. She says Dahle has been a great influencer on her, and has helped her with many obstacles, including filling out her first job application and fueling her passion for filmmaking.

“He is one of the teachers I genuinely feel cared about my success and passions on topics that mean a lot to me, but to others may not. I know somewhere he always wished the best for me, and with his new job, I wish the best for him. I know he will make his new company very proud they hired him,” says Sajdowitz.

Carr says that, while he and other students may not like that Dahle is resigning, it’s the best option for his future and his career, though he will be missed.

Students knew that Dahle wasn’t going to be teaching at Arrowhead for much longer, but Carthew says that they weren’t expecting him to be leaving so soon.

Carthew says, “Wherever he is going to, I wish him the best of luck, and to always remember what he did that changed our lives here at Arrowhead. Thank you so much for everything.”

Dahle says he will miss the students and staff at Arrowhead, though he hopes to keep in contact with many of them.

“The one piece of teaching high school [that I won’t miss] is the astronomical amount of students who use the words ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ in their daily writing,” says Dahle. “There is nothing that grinds my gears more than those two words in the English language. If I could see less use of Comic Sans as well, then I won’t complain either.”

The biggest thing Arrowhead has done for him is offer him a chance, Dahle says. He was hired straight out of college, and was given the chance to work at a good school with high standards and expectations.

Dahle says that, when hearing about a job at Arrowhead, the words ‘we hire the best’ usually come along with it, which was intimidating for him.

“I came in with a little experience and didn’t expect I’d get the position, but they took a chance on me. I’ve learned a lot working here and had many experiences that no matter how much training you receive in college, can’t prepare you for,” says Dahle. “I appreciate the opportunity to prove myself here and hopefully I met expectations.”