Have you ever made a huge decision that will change your life around? SPASH business teacher, Mr. Pohlkamp’s, life changed when he began teaching after his professional hockey career. Now he holds a much simpler job as a business teacher with respect toward all his students. Sometimes a big change in life can turn out to be a benefit to all.

Background

Mr. Pohlkamp was born in Lake City Minnesota but grew up in Baxter Minnesota. He lived there for his entire life until about 3 years ago when he moved to Wisconsin. Mr. Pohlkmap is the oldest of 6 and understands that he has higher expectations from his parents for his younger siblings. A moment he really enjoyed as a kid was being out by the lake, hanging out with his friends, and just spending time with others. Now while he’s not in school and teaching his students, he’s spending time with his wife.

Hockey Life

“My favorite memory with Mr. Pohlkamp was seeing him [be] introduced as the Head Hockey coach. That was exciting and I believed that he is going to bring a state title back to SPASH for boys hockey,” said Mr. Castleberg, another SPASH business teacher. Mr. Pohlkmap was a professional hockey player, starting at the young age of 5. He played for a high school Brainerd Warriors and Bowling Green State University but stopped playing as COVID hit. That’s when he started to teach business classes here at SPASH, Personal Finance, Intro to Business, and Business Loss. Not only is he teaching students how to manage a business, money, etc, but he’s also coaching the SPASH hockey boys.

Individual Respects

Although Mr. Pohlkamp had only been at SPASH for about 2 years, one thing many can agree on about Mr. Pohlkamp is his personality. Mr. Gust, a business teacher at SPASH, said, “Mr. Pohlkamp is a great teacher who truly cares about his students. He’s approachable, well-liked, and always fun to be around… He is a great coworker and is always willing to lend a hand when needed. It’s a pleasure to work together on the same team.” Along with Mr. Casrleberg, he shares, “I think Mr. Pohlkamp is an excellent teacher that connects well with students. He cares about their well-being and education and wants to see them succeed…Mr. Polhkamp is easygoing, but a hard worker. He is always looking for ways to improve but also works well with others. He has a calm assertive demeanor.”

Not only do the teachers think he is a good person/teacher, but students also do as well. SPASH senior Taylen Kowalski said, “Mr. Pohlkamp is very nice and caring. I find him [to be] able to relate to us students easily.” Many think he is nice and caring along with hardworking and helpful.

Class with Mr. Pohlkamp

Taking business classes can be fun, easy, relaxing at times, and more. Many students like Taylen really find Mr. Pohlkamp’s Intro to Business class easy, fun, fast, etc. Taylen said, “Being in his class is fun and I always feel like I can relax a little. We also have this daily energy drink check. Where I bring an energy drink to class and he sees what kind it is. So overall I really like being in his class.” This class isn’t as hard as others may think. You learn many things such as global business, choosing the right form of business ownership, supply chain, and many more. Mr. Pohlkamp makes the class and the assignments fairly simple, with not a lot of stress, and plenty of work time in class. Taylen believes that Mr. Pohlkamp is fair to every student and tries to check on each and every one as much as possible. Mr. Pohlkamp claims that he wants his students to learn how to be good people and respect one another.

So in conclusion, Mr. Pohlkamp is a very nice, kind, helping, talented teacher and coworker. Although he became a teacher, he still finds time to do the things he loves which includes hockey.