Business teacher Chad Huseth has been named this year’s Teacher of the Year. Teachers nominated their coworkers in early March, and then students chose their favorite of the three teachers with the most nominations.

Teachers watched their coworkers throughout the year and then made nominations based on their observations. Business teacher Gogi Supenski nominated Huseth as a result of her frequent observations of his interactions with the Senior Senate.

“I looked for teachers that were available for students, always gives students a fair chance, and those that relate well with the students,” Supenski said.

Huseth wasn’t a teacher from the get-go. Fresh out of college with a business degree, he was a nurse recruiter for a few years while going back to school to become a business teacher.

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, and my time away from education made me want to do it even more so,” Huseth said.

Along with teaching classes, Huseth is the school’s Internship Coordinator. Huseth was the logical choice for the job because most kids need to take his Career Development class to get the internships. As Internship Coordinator, Huseth visits the students places of work and meets with managers to discuss how the students are doing, what they could improve on, and their interactions.

“It’s a busy job, but I love it,” Huseth said. “I get out of here, get out in the air, I get to meet a lot of new people, and it’s a really great time.”

Huseth is also on his ninth year of teaching summer school P.E. He finds it enjoyable because it’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from what he does the rest of the year.

“I like the change of pace and I get to meet a lot of the new incoming students that way as well, so there’s a lot of good things about it,” Huseth said.

Students aren’t only fond of Huseth because he rarely assigns homework. Students have no difficulties holding a conversation with Huseth, whether easy and good-humored or complex and meaningful.

“If you need to go to somebody, go to Huseth because he’s a really understanding guy,” senior Tyler Ciurej said.

Like all other teachers in the building, Huseth has grown and matured with his teaching strategies and how he deals with students. Huseth has also seen his role in students lives change, as well.

“He’s always been really good at interacting and connecting with the students, but I think as he has become a parent himself, he has become more of a mentor for a of the students,” Supenski said.

In his classes, Huseth delves into only the curriculum content, but also relates his own life experiences, giving students insight into what it’s really like in college and beyond.

“He goes really in-depth about what experiences he’s had in life and what he’s learned, and tells us funny stories, so [Career Development] is an interesting class,” Ciurej said.

Over his 11 years, Huseth has taught many of the same classes time after time, which would bore some people. Huseth, however, finds motivation in working with the students, especially seniors since he is one of the last faces they’ll see before heading off to college.

“I haven’t lost my desire or excitement to be here at all,” Huseth said. “I love Bellevue West, I love what I do, I’m very fortunate for what I have, so it’s really worked out well for me.”