Mr. Sobolewski Master of the Media Center

English teacher David Sobolewski

English teacher David Sobolewski

Mr. David Sobolewski is a Cotter graduate, after years he’s back to Cotter again. This time he’s no longer high school student, he’s an Educational Media Specialist. Since he is new to Cotter I bet a lot of people are curious about him and want to know more about him. I emailed him some questions and here are his responses to my interview:

What are your current position and responsibilities?

At Cotter, I am an Educational Media Specialist. I run the Media Center, RenWeb (Cotter’s student management system), and the main website. I work with Greg Treharne on a number of projects, I watch a few classes, and I work with teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms to better serve student needs.

How did you reconnect with Cotter regarding this job?

Sr. Judy reached out to me last January and suggested that she had a role for me to fill at Cotter if I was interested. After talking with her on and off about it for awhile, I decided to accept. I started June 1st of last year.

How have you interacted with students this year?

By talking to them! Seriously though, on an average day, I see students the moment I open the Media Center at 7:30 in the morning. I chat with people as they come in, see how they’re doing, find out what’s going on in their lives, and offer help with homework or some computer problem if they need it. Through the day, I see plenty of people as they cycle in and out of the Media Center, and as I jump in and help out classes.

What was your previous work experience prior to coming to Cotter?

I’ve taught in Japan, worked at Fastenal, in Rochester, and in the Cities. I’ve done a lot of work in eLearning, both at Fastenal, and at my last job at Allen Interactions, a small eLearning production house in the Twin Cities. Also, and perhaps most important, I was a waiter at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for three years.

What sort of books do you like to recommend for students?

Ooooooh… depends on the student really. I love fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, biographies, technical manuals, and more. If I guess that someone is going to like what’s popular right now, then I’ll throw out a Hunger Games, a Maze Runner, or a Rick Riordan book. If I can tell they’re more adventurous, I like to pick their brain and see what the last few they read was. All depends on the person really.

Where did you attend college, what was your major and how did that experience shape you?

I graduated from the University of St. Thomas (Go Tommies!) after majoring in English, Education, and Communications. That’s right – I’m a licensed English teacher like Cos or Shriver. However, early on I had difficulty finding a teaching jobs after coming back from Japan, so I turned to corporate teaching and online learning.

How did St. Thomas shape me? Man… I can’t even qualify that. I would readily go back to college and do it again – some of the best times of my life. Living outside of Winona teaches you a lot and the experiences I had there have informed a lot of my life since then. Even after the first semester at college, I was a very different person.

We know you’re engaged. how did you meet your fiance?  

Ms. Brazil and I met while she was a hosting trivia at a place in Winona. There were a lot of guys showing interest in her, but she says something about me caught her eye. It worked out pretty well.

What is your favorite video game or games?

Top 5 Video games:

Half-Life series

Metal Gear -Solid Series

Dark Souls (Bloodbourne is coming out next week!)

DOTA 2

Batman: Arkham Asylum

(This list is subject to change on my whims at the moment/with the last game I played)

Top 5 board games:

Pathfinder

King of Tokyo

Arkham Asylum (not at all the same as the Batman one)

Risk: The game of global domination

Spy Alley

Do you have outside interests or hobbies?

Aside from reading and various types of gaming, I like to  play guitar poorly, tinker with various technical projects (which usually means breaking computers and fixing them), and learning to do programming work.

What are your future plans?

Tonight? Well I’m hungry now, so I’ll probably eat in a bit.  Long term, I’d like to publish an app to the Apple App store. I’ve got some ideas I’ve been tinkering with and with a little more study on my part, I think I could make it work. Maybe make my own game too. Beyond that, I’d like to publish a book someday.

As a Cotter graduate, what are your goals for or advice for current students?   what strikes you as the same or different from when you were here?

Advice for current students: Never, never, never give up. Never. – Winston Churchill.

Same: The building smells the same depending on the time of year. Also, sometimes it’s funny watching students in classes behave exactly the same as some of my classmates. There are times I talk to kids and just think, “Geez, s/he’s just like…”

Different: 7th/8th grade is here, that’s different. Otherwise, underneath it all, not much. Still a quality school that helps refine quality people.