Jon Haas, a Crown Point High School mathematics teacher and the Valparaiso University women’s golf coach, is an east coast native who grew up in a small town in western Maine called West Paris. He attended high school at Oxford Hills High School, and then continued his education at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
After Haas graduated from college, he was offered a teaching position in the Calumet Township Lake Ridge School Corporation and has lived in Northwest Indiana ever since.
Haas has been a teacher for a total of 17 years now and has worked in a handful of different schools around the region.
“I started in the Lake Ridge School Corporation, then I was at Hebron for a couple of years, then I worked at the Hammond School Corporation, and now I am at Crown Point High School,” he said. “I kind of bounced around following different coaching jobs.”
Out of his 17 years of teaching, Haas’ favorite part about being a teacher is being able to watch his students grow and develop into young adults.
“I primarily teach freshmen, so it is really nice for me to see kids that I had when they were freshmen graduate and walk out of the door as young adults. Freshmen are usually a little goofy and immature and seeing them grow, mature, and figure out where they want to go to college and figure out what they want to do with their lives is so awesome,” he said.“You kind of get to watch them grow up in front of you… and to me, that is one of the coolest things about teaching.”
Haas has known ever since a young age that he wanted to be a teacher. His 2nd grade teacher was very influential to him, which is when he ultimately made his career choice.
In addition to teaching, John has coached many sports throughout his career, but has just recently accepted the position as the head women’s golf coach at VU.
“I have coached a lot of different sports. I have been a varsity basketball coach, softball coach, track and field coach, and most recently I was the men’s and women’s golf coach at Crown Point High School,” he listed off. “However, I took a jump when I took over as the Valparaiso University women’s golf coach. I went from coaching high school golf to Division 1 college golf, and so far it has worked out to be a really great experience.”
John grew up playing golf with his grandfather and also played in high school, as well.
“My grandfather took me up at a very young age and taught me how to golf. I played a lot of other sports in high school, like baseball and basketball... however, I loved being outside and in golf you are out in the woods, you are out by the water, and it is a really neat way to spend a lot of time outside,” Haas explained.
As the season continues for the VU women’s golf team, Haas looks forward to continuing to get to know the team better and help them succeed in the sport, and in their careers.
“It is a fantastic group of girls that I have gotten to know so far. It has been neat to transition from being able to help high school students to college students,” he said. “I have a couple of seniors on my team now, and I love being able to help them and give advice to them as young adults starting their career. That has been really rewarding for me so far.”
Outside of teaching and coaching, John really enjoys being outside, working in his yard, and spending time with his four kids.