On the second floor of the SILC building, construction teacher Steve Bethke prepares for his last semester of teaching. Bethke has been teaching for 10 years, and taught Careers in Construction at Manitou Springs Middle School for five and he plans to retire at the end of this year.
Before teaching, Bethke explored many other careers across many fields. “I was an investment counsellor and I was a plumber and I was a pilot in the Navy,” Bethke said.
Bethke’s journey to becoming a teacher was a long one and along the way he experienced many different professions. “I was an investment counsellor and all I was doing was making rich people really rich, and I found no satisfaction out of that. And so then I thought I could work with young people because my last job in the Navy was working with young people. So I started substituting and then next thing you know, I was a science teacher and now I’m a construction teacher,” Bethke said…