Teacher candidate Brett Bjorgan was inspired to follow his father's footsteps into teaching and coaching (KYLE SULLIVAN/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
While having your dad teach at your high school may sound like a nightmare to some, for Brett Bjorgan, it was an inspiration.
“My dad is a secondary physical education teacher, and my high school experience was great having him there as a mentor and making sure I was doing the right thing and staying in line,” he says.
Now a teacher candidate in the University of Windsor's Faculty of Education, Bjorgan cites his dad as the biggest influence on his career trajectory.
“He was definitely the most important and significant factor as I got to see him do his job, have fun with it and coach sports,” says Bjorgan.
“It just seemed like the dream.”
Bjorgan chose to follow in his father’s footsteps, completing a bachelor of science in Kinesiology at UWindsor’s Faculty of Human Kinetics and entering the consecutive teacher education program.
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Bjorgan says. “I get a lot of enjoyment out of providing service to others."
When it came to choosing a focus for his teaching career, Bjorgan wanted to be able to combine his athletic background as a Lancer football player and Lancer Recreation personal trainer with his passion for education.
“I wanted to be able to coach sports and other individual athletes, watch them grow and hopefully prep them for post-secondary athletics if that is their goal,” he says, which led him to choose teaching at the secondary level.
In his first placement at Assumption College Catholic High School, he was able to put this background to work, assisting with the senior boys’ basketball team.
“I’m open to coach basically anything,” Bjorgan says, noting that he learned a lot during this experience despite limited background with basketball.
“Obviously, I have a little more expertise in some sports, but it’s the ability to be there and help others succeed, that’s where I get the most enjoyment.”
Now in his second placement, also at Assumption, this consistency has allowed Bjorgan to get to know the school, staff and students.
“Everyone here has been super nice and welcoming,” he says, explaining that his placements have allowed him to practice teaching courses in leadership, physical education and geography.
While he describes his first experience of placement as learning as he went, Bjorgan acknowledges that it was great practice to see what he could handle.
“Going into my second placement, I feel so much more comfortable speaking in front of classes, making corrections where I need to and building rapport with the students,” he explains. “Everything has gotten more comfortable.”
His personal training and coaching background has also contributed to this level of comfort as Bjorgan sees a good deal of crossover between training and teaching.
“Personal training, coaching and building rapport with students have all complemented each other,” he says, noting that problem-solving through dialogue and challenging people to become better versions of themselves are key to both teaching and training.
“I want to be a teacher that challenges their students to become the most ideal version of themselves in terms of academics and as people,” Bjorgan says.
“Teaching is an opportunity in the same way as coaching to unlock that person’s potential because sometimes they can’t really see it for themselves.
“It’s about challenging students, getting them out of their comfort zones and really pushing them so they can find out what true potential they really have. It’s about unlocking my students’ potential in the classroom.”
As an incoming teacher, Bjorgan says he sees Teachers’ Week as a great opportunity to recognize teachers’ work and understand their point of view.
“It’s important to recognize how much work some teachers do outside of their regular jobs between the bell times,” he says.
He also stresses that those considering teaching as a career need to reflect on their ‘why’ for pursuing the field.
“Teachers have a really big responsibility educating the youth,” says Bjorgan.
“If you’re thinking of becoming a teacher, ask yourself, do I really want to help those around me and educate the youth further so that we can have a more informed and sustainable society moving forward.”
Teacher Appreciation Week runs May 4 through May 8, 2026. For more information on teacher education programs, visit the Faculty of Education website.