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University of Minnesota Athletics
Pirsig Teaching Kindergarten This Spring
4/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Rachel Timmerman
Standing at 6'9'' and 320 lbs., offensive lineman Jonah Pirsig isn't the type of person you'd imagine teaching kindergarten.
But with a major of elementary education, you can find him reading to five and six year olds instead of sitting in a lecture.
His love of teaching developed in high school when he took a community service class.
"I got put into a fourth grade classroom, not really wanting to be a teacher at that point," Pirsig said. "But after a couple of weeks, I just kind of fell in love with it."
Even though this semester observing is not his first time working in a classroom, he says he still never knows what to expect.
"It's not new, but everyday in the classroom is definitely new," Pirsig said. "[It's] kind of tough to hold a conversation with them, but it's fun and you never know what's going to happen."
In the classroom, Pirsig mainly observes the teacher and helps with tasks, whether that be getting ready for the next lesson or walking around and helping the kids.
Though most of the kids barely reach his knees, he says they're not intimidated by him. Turns out they're more interested in his long hair than his size.
"They actually say more about my hair than they do my height," he said. "I was worried they'd be a little scared [of my height] but the first day, a bunch of kids came up to me wanting me to read to them, so it was a good feeling."
Nearing the end of his second semester in a classroom, Pirsig finds that he loves seeing the kids get older and improve with their schoolwork.
"I love watching them grow," Pirsig said. "I just visited one of my classrooms I was in during the fall, and it's unbelievable how much they've grown."
One thing Pirsig continues to learn is how to teach to different students.
"Just getting a knack for teaching different kinds of kids, they all have different needs," he said. "It's something that teachers who have been doing it for 40 years are still working on and something I'll be working on until I'm done teaching."
After two more semesters of his undergrad, Pirsig plans to take a fifth year to earn his masters.
"Once I have my undergrad and I'm done with student teaching I'll be licensed to teach kindergarten through sixth grade, Pirsig said. "I'm still undecided on what grade I'd like to teach. I really like kindergarten, but I'm okay with whatever grade I get put in."
Pirsig has learned a lot about kindergarten aged children -- they really like the movie "Frozen" -- but he has also learned about himself and found a passion in the classroom.
"I've learned that I have a knack for helping people and that's kind of the route that I should be going," Pirsig said. "Both my grandmas are teachers, and my mom went to school to be a teacher initially, she took a different path, but I think this is the right one for me."
