Principal Craig Washnok and the coalition of Cheetahs at Chamisa Elementary School. Courtesy photo
By BERNADETTE LAURITZEN
Los Alamos
Any educator worth their weight in salt deserves an article about their contributions to our children. A view at the end of that journey is especially meaningful when it has molded a portion of America’s future for 31 years. You see, salt was once the thing that allowed a civilization to expand for preservation. A good educator can expand a mind to further their own preservation or mold a mind, which could in turn mold the future itself.
On May 27, Chamisa Elementary School Principal Craig Washnok rang the last school bell on a seasoned portion of his career. While he will still make contributions to the Los Alamos Public Schools, any loss of a great teacher is a loss, nonetheless.
Washnok grew up in Crystal Lake, Ill., and furthered his education at Northern Illinois University. He pursued a degree in marketing and advertising, but luckily, he didn’t enjoy it. He wanted his degree to be in pursuit of something he enjoyed, and one area of interest was researching history.
He wanted to know if he could teach it and sought a degree in Secondary Education. He felt his Teaching Methods classes didn’t go very well, until he saw what happened once he was in front of students. He was very comfortable and knew he loved being able to teach them. He graduated with a degree in History and Secondary Education in 1995.
“My first job was teaching American History summer school to high school juniors for District 155 in 1995,” Washnok said. “I needed a permanent teaching position. I got a job offer from McKinley County Public Schools teaching Government and Southwest History at Gallup High School. I taught my first year in Gallup and then moved to Albuquerque to pursue a master’s in special education.”
Washnok also taught middle school and high school special education for nine years in Los Lunas. He coached baseball, soccer, and wrestling. He then moved to Ruidoso to serve as head varsity soccer coach and taught there for six years.
Washnok received his Education Administration Endorsement from Eastern New Mexico University in 2010. He went back into teaching and five years later moved his family to Los Alamos.
“We wanted to raise our daughter in Los Alamos, and teach in the district,” Washnok said. “I started teaching Special Education inclusion classes at Los Alamos Middle School. I was also the LAMS wrestling coach from 2015-2019.”
In addition, he taught the Positive Support Program at LAMS.
When the principal position opened at Chamisa, Washnok applied and was offered the job. He said it was the best decision he could ever have made in his career. He would spend seven wonderful years as the head of the Cheetahs. Sometimes a gathering of cheetahs is called a coalition, and no better coalition could have come together as 2020 was afoot. It would prepare him for even more.
Storytelling is at the heart of many teachers and Washnok had one to share. One year, a secret spirit week took place where teachers would dress up, and students tried to decipher the theme of the day.
“One theme was to dress as your favorite movie/book character,” Washnok said. “I dressed up as a Jedi. When I came into school, I noticed my staff were either wearing ties, neon safety jackets, NM United/Chicago Bears/UNM/Chicago Cubs jerseys, I had no idea what was going on. Then I figured it out. My staff all dressed like me!”
He said he loved it, viewing it as a sign of respect and even the thought of it now still makes him emotional.
Washnok explained that Chamisa staff is teamwork, family and community. He said he knows that on hard days, it is what can motivate everyone to persevere.
“Chamisa has such incredible staff, they are hard-working, and care about kids. Chamisa is all about teamwork, and it takes a particular teacher/staff to work at Chamisa,” Washnok said. “Staff are part of a large family and work together for the benefit of students. Staff know that when they work at Chamisa, it’s a happy place, a happy school. The thing I love the most about our staff is that they understand: It’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about kids. They know fully well that teaching is a selfless profession.”
Change can be hard for everyone; lessons are learned but new opportunities grow and that’s okay, too. The staff, students and community are still getting used to a very different building design.
“I did not realize that a building structure has an impact on school culture,” Washnok said. “I can’t wait to see how Chamisa will grow from its original roots (Dr. Gilman’s vision in 1967) to grow into the new structure. It will be great to see how Chamisa’s culture will grow into the new building. People just need to see the possibilities of our new Chamisa and carry the tradition forward.”
Chamisa used the first school year to focus on resilience. Washnok wanted students to reflect on the statement, “I can do hard things”. It taught them that tasks may be presented to them as tough, hard, or make them feel they were not able to do them, he said. The phrase would return to them each time to remind them that mistakes are “good”. It makes them smarter as they learn they can overcome something that they didn’t do right the first time. They wanted their students to embrace that skills do not always come easy, and that challenging work is part of a student’s education.
Chamisa Elementary Speech, and Language Pathologist Venita Lujan Chavez (23 years-present) said of Washnok, “The most impressive thing about Craig Washnok is that he truly knows every student at Chamisa. When he greets them by name daily, he is genuinely happy to see him and they can feel it.”
LAMS Spanish Teacher Rita Sanchez (Retired in 2020 after 35 years in education) remembered Washnok saying, “He was a wonderful educator to work with. He was great with the students. He was an excellent, excellent wrestler, coach, which is probably what I admire most about him. I was excited for him when he went to work at Chamisa as their principal. I think they were very lucky.”