Identify strengths, ignite passion, cultivate community

Meet the teacher

SWAN VALLEY – Along with the traditional reading, writing and math, Swan Valley kindergarten, first and second grade students can expect to start their creative juices during the Imagination Station every morning, have a daily dance party and enjoy laughter as part of their learning. Their new teacher Chris Mauldin, who will also be working with students in special education, looks forward to connecting with each of his students so they feel valued, respected and safe and can excel inside and outside of the classroom.

Mauldin grew up in southern California in the Santa Ynez Valley. When he was two, his family learned that he was very hard of hearing. Based on the severity of his hearing loss, Mauldin wasn't expected to go past sixth grade because he wouldn't be able to speak correctly or communicate with his peers.

Instead of teaching him sign language, his parents started him in speech therapy when he was two and a half years old. He attended preschool and by his kindergarten year he was mainstream with the rest of his class.

"It was off to the races from there," said Mauldin.

Mauldin remembers his sixth grade teacher Mr. Peterschick, a phenomenal teacher who worked with him on creative writing. Mauldin excelled, receiving some creative writing awards. Peterschick fostered an interest that continued to grow.

Even though education was highly valued in his family, when Mauldin graduated from Carroll College in 2000 with a degree in Philosophy, he was the first person on both sides of the family to get a college degree.

Mauldin spent the next 16 years in various careers including banking, health care and business management. He also served on a school board and coached.

"No matter what job I got into, the philosophy background always helped because of that kind of multi-angle perspective," said Mauldin. "I always seemed to fall into this preceptor role, teaching and training people how to do things."

The Mauldins moved to Seeley Lake in 2013. He worked at Rovero's and was the manager for the SLE Outside store before being hired at Seeley Lake Elementary in the fall of 2016 as a preschool and special education paraprofessional. He's worked in that role for the last three years.

Mauldin realized how much he loved being a consistent, solid person in his students' lives, who was willing to have fun, draw boundaries, believe in them and contend for their education.

"It was gratifying in a way that supersedes the paycheck," said Mauldin. "Once I started working at the school it was like, this makes sense."

Mauldin applied for his three-year provisional license for K-8 and special education in March 2019. He is currently enrolled with Western Governor's University to obtain his teaching certificate in elementary education and special education.

When the K-2 position opened up at the Swan Valley School, he saw it as an opportunity to teach multiple grades as well as continue his special education development.

"It's a huge opportunity to work in an extremely supportive environment and develop skills and impact a good number of students throughout the valley," said Mauldin. "The environment there is so positive and connected. The staff has been overwhelmingly supportive and appreciative of some of the out of the box things that I bring."

Mauldin developed the motto "Identify strengths, ignite passion, cultivate community" a few years back while working with youth outreach. He has adopted it as his classroom motto.

"Those three things are central to my philosophy in the classroom - working with the students individually to find their strengths, giving them the exposure to things that they are passionate about and helping them connect with other people so that they can share and grow in their passions," said Mauldin.

Mauldin's assorted career path affords him a lot of different resources and experiences to pull from in his teaching. While he learns best through traditional teaching methods including lectures and reading, the students at SLE showed him a need to restore foundations in self-identity and build their confidence. The students were so focused on getting the right answer that there was no freedom to be imaginative and creative.

"Engineers have a job because they are constantly coming up with a new way to do things and a new way to put things together," said Mauldin. "All of that is rooted in the fundamental way things are put together but it always happens because someone came up with something that was outside-of-the-box."

Mauldin fosters creativity at the Imagination Station every morning. The students are given a random prompt and then they are expected to write, color and/or brainstorm for the first 10-15 minutes of class. The exercise is an opportunity to engage the entire brain.

"The world changers are going to be the kids that think creatively," said Mauldin. "It is my hope that the kids are [also] able to learn how to be connected with those people."

Mauldin said he is learning just as much as the students are every day. In a multi-age classroom, keeping the students engaged is challenging. But his biggest challenge is connecting with his students in a real, tangible way.

"I want these kids to know that I genuinely care. The foundation of my caring about the students isn't so much about them producing or making me look good, it is about them understanding that I'm genuinely invested in who they are," said Mauldin.

When he is not teaching, Mauldin loves hanging out with his wife and three children, listening and playing music, reading, outdoor sports and hunting with his oldest daughter. He is always up for a good cup of coffee and philosophical discussion or being creative with projects around his house.

 

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