Students surprised at reason elderly sub still teaches
Oct 16, 2017, 8:37 AM | Updated: Oct 1, 2024, 10:30 am
Don’t lose faith in the young generation just yet.
Two seniors at Champlin Park High School in Minneapolis became curious about their elderly substitute teacher who — at 80 years old — was still at the front of the classroom.
“Honestly I’ve never seen a sub so old and so I was just like ‘that’s kind of weird you’d think he’d be retired’ or I dunno but maybe he just loves his job a lot which he obviously does,” Kelsey, a senior at the school, told CBS.
They say Walter Erickson’s impact on the students has been big. They can tell he truly cares about their education. They clearly care about him, too.
They eventually learned that he’s still subbing at 80 because he’s saving up for his wife’s cataract surgery and dental work.
Kelsey, along with her friend Katie, knew of a quicker way to get that money. WCCO reports they started at GoFundMe page. Erickson was blown away.
“When I told my wife about this last Friday she said ‘who are these girls? What kind of parents do they have that they can be so caring and compassionate?” Erickson said.
The goal was a simple $500 but in less than a week they raised $14,000. They surprised him with the total just this past week. He got emotional as he marveled at the total.
Erickson says he plans to keep teaching.
