Branden Lorek has been teaching at the high school for 18 years. He is an applied skills teacher and has many other responsibilities and tasks within sports and clubs.

“I am the head wrestling coach going on my 10th year, and I am in charge of the Helping Hand team, which is a group of students who work on volunteer employment tasks, like recycling or other small tasks to help teachers around the building,” Lorek said.

Every job has challenges, some different from others. For Lorek, his job includes the challenges of the school being under construction and the challenge of having many different types of students.

“The construction was a big challenge because our class had moved a lot. Another big challenge is having a variety of students, anywhere from freshmen to seniors. some students are very independent, and they go to a lot of classes. There are also students who are very independent, but they don’t go out to as many classes. I use teamwork to help make sure the kids are taken care of and that their needs are met and they keep up with their class work,” Lorek said.

Outside of teaching, Lorek spends valuable time with his sons through sports. While spending time with his sons, he also takes time for himself to do things he enjoys.

“Outside of work, I take care of my boys. I watch them play sports and I also coach them.
I coached them in wrestling and I have coached them in soccer, but nowadays, I’m just their number one super fan during soccer. I also like exercise, I lift weights, walk, run a little bit, and I don’t play them a lot, but I like video games,” Lorek said.

Lorek helps students to the best of his abilities while still spending time doing extracurriculars and spending time with his boys.