Golden Apple: Joel Jarock

The Golden Apple Awards honor those shaping student success and our region’s future through excellence in education.

Eight award recipients will be recognized April 22 at the Golden Apple Awards event, and will also be featured in stories in the Press Times each week leading up to the event.

This week, get to know Golden Apple Award recipient Joel Jarock.

After graduating from Pulaski High School in 1989 and earning degrees from UW-Green Bay, Viterbo University and the American College of Education, Joel Jarock returned to Pulaski High School where he has been teaching math for 30 years.

Before he became a teacher, Jarock gained perspective from his dad, Richard, was a math and reading teacher at Seymour High School and Middle School.
“I watched him coach and talk about the people he worked with,” Jarock said. “Being a former Vietnam gunship pilot, I saw him approach his days with a calmness that put it all into perspective. It’s helped me not become overwhelmed with obligations, meetings, initiatives and daily stressors so I can focus on what’s important.”

Experiences with his own children and as a coach have also shaped Jarock’s teaching style.

“Being a parent and watching my own kids go through Pulaski and eventually graduate has really opened my eyes as to what students go through and what they may need,” he said. “Coaching and working athletic events has also shown me the side of students outside the classroom and helped me understand what teaching the whole student entails.”

In his classroom, Jarock said he hopes to engage all of his students and make their time in his classroom worthwhile.

“I try to make my class interactive for the students. Each class I try to get each student involved somehow. I make my lesson plans inclusive to the students’ needs so each student feels ownership and a part of the class,” he said. “I hope they saw me as a person they could trust, who taught them ways to make their education meaningful, and showed them how they can always find a way to enjoy whatever task they are undertaking.”

To future teachers, Jarock offers this reminder: “There will be good days and bad days, celebrations and frustrations. Your goal each day should be to find one positive take away, one person you made a difference for, no matter how big or small.”