Dan Counsell’s quirks are fairly well known in our school, whether it be his affection for a Culver’s Butterburger, or for his bromances with the teachers in the rooms next to his. Over in room 209, Counsell described how his 20 years of teaching have been, and what he has enjoyed about his time teaching so far.

He stated that his main focus was to “make a positive impact on the students and if possible, just make them laugh a little”.

After explaining his main goal in teaching, Counsell was asked how he thought students here at the school viewed him, and he responded with, “I want them to see me as friendly and that there’s a mutual respect between me and all of my students, and I also really hope they find me at least a little humorous”.

He chuckled as he gave an explanation as to why he got into teaching, as it was mostly because he really enjoyed reading textbooks and learning new information as a kid. Beyond his childhood, he began to realize that not a lot of careers needed any expertise in social studies, but that teaching was the best path for someone as interested in social studies as himself.

He even explained, “I honestly never thought that I would be teaching psychology, but here I am”.

Next, Counsell expressed what his favorite thing about teaching is, and it took him a while to find his answer. “There really are a lot of things to enjoy about teaching, but I think one of the most rewarding things to see, is when a student[s] becomes very passionate and enthusiastic about what you’re up at the front of the class teaching”.

He also mentioned that there was one thing that was very important about teaching: “I can be true to myself while teaching. Some teachers will dress up for certain history lessons and stuff, but… that’s not me. I just get to crack a couple jokes, and I’m really glad that I get to stand up here and do that while teaching”. He seems to be very glad to be teaching, and thinking about the fact he gets to do it everyday, even if his original plan wasn’t to be a teacher.

After hearing that, and having some fairly basic questions asked, it was time to break out the questions that most people would really want to know about Mr. Counsell.

The first hard hitting question was asking who his best friend in the building was, and he said, “I couldn’t pick one person, but it’s both Mr. Grabo and Mr. Johnston”.

Counsell was then prompted to describe what sparked these specific “bromances” and if there were any other strong friendships the public should know about. He had no trouble saying, “There definitely aren’t any other bromances going on,” he snickered a little as he explained, “I’m a family man, I’ve got a wife, two kids, two dogs. Not a lot of time for more bromances”.

As for what sparked these strong friendships, it was a combination of “sports talk, a love for history, and common interests in general”.

Branching off from this, I thought it was time to bring up one of the school’s  favorite seasonal traditions: Happy Holligrabes.

The school needed to hear Mr. Counsell’s opinion on this beautiful winter occurrence, and he shared, “This past year was one of the most well done, and I’m very excited to see where it goes this year”. It was exciting to finally hear his opinion on this recently made tradition, one that he took part of in past years, as his and Mr. Grabo’s face were printed and stuck all over the school.

Lastly, it was time to get a little more personal with Mr Counsell and ask him about something that he holds very dearly to his heart.

The school needed to know more about his love for Culver’s.

A smile came across his face as he described to me “It’s just really good, and made fresh. I’ve never been to a Culver’s with bad staff, and it’s just… so good”.

To finish the interview, Counsell was asked if he thought anyone loved Culver’s more than him, and he laughed as he said, “I really hope so, I love Culver’s, but I don’t want to be remembered for being the biggest fan of Culver’s”. Although I believed him, it is a little hard to hear him say that, considering he can name every Culver’s from here to Eau Claire.

Lastly, there’s something that Counsell would like everyone to hear that he said in response to being asked what his favorite thing about teaching is.

“It’s good to be you. I’m a bit of an introvert, so standing up here and teaching everyday, I never would have thought I’d be here. The reason I do this though, is because it is me now. Being you is good, but you can’t get too far into your comfort zone, because it’ll prevent you from growing as a person.”