Chris Skaros’s Passion: Teaching

Chris Skaros has been a teacher at Arrowhead for six years. Skaros teaches American problems and US History. Prior to Arrowhead, he taught four years at two different schools. He was a special education aid at Cedarburg for two years and at Greenfield Elementary for two years.

He wasn’t always set to become a teacher. When Skaros was a kid, he wanted to be a bus driver. When he was older, he was interested in becoming a lawyer.

“I didn’t realize I was into politics until basically the opportunity had passed me,” he said.

According to Skaros, he was close with his paternal grandparents; they watched him when he was a kid. He says his grandparents inspired him to become a teacher. They both were teachers and worked for 30 odd years in MPS. His grandpa worked at Boy’s Tech and his grandma worked at a middle school in Milwaukee. Skaros, himself, really liked social studies including history, government, and political science. “It’s kind [of] my personal passion. [Teaching social studies] was a good way for me to follow my passion and share it with others,” he said.

According to Skaros, he went to University of Wisconsin-Madison not knowing what he wanted to be. He majored in history and political science. He was the first in his family to go to Madison.

He graduated Madison with a Bachelor’s degree of history and political science and reapplied to Madison for his teaching license. He was in college for 6 years.

Prior to to getting an interview at Arrowhead, Skaros was in a final interview for a different job in March to leave teaching because he couldn’t find a teaching job. This was three months before he got hired at Arrowhead. “[I] was prepared to leave because of no jobs,” he said.

With teaching, he says conflicts interfere with his schedule. The time management and balance between home, “especially with coaching,” and the homework takes a lot of time. Skaros coaches baseball and football at Arrowhead for five days a week during the fall and spring.

“[I] spend first hour reading the news just to make sure I’m informed for the day. A lot’s prepared. [I] change things around a little but [I get] things copied. [I read] the news to know what’s going on for American Problems.”

Skaros says his favorite part of teaching is, “I love when kids are excited about stuff I’m talking about. I try to make it as interesting as possible.”