Prairie Ridge Mourns Devastating Loss of Student Teacher

William Stastny begrudgingly poses for a picture in Mrs. Phams Rhetorical Analysis of Media class his last day of student teaching.

Nigel Ticknor

William Stastny begrudgingly poses for a picture in Mrs. Pham’s Rhetorical Analysis of Media class his last day of student teaching.

It was only at the tender young age of 21 when William Stastny experienced his last day at PR.  Bittersweet tears are shed as the students of PR remember the short time they spent with him.

William Stastny was a student teacher at Prairie Ridge High School working under Mrs. Kristen Pham, an English teacher.  On November 7th he completed his student teaching requirement and is waiting for the paperwork to process so he can receive his teaching license.

As Ryan Kowalkowski, one of his students, puts it: “Mr. Stastny [was] a magical man of mystery.”

When looking for a place to get his student teaching requirement, “[his] first choice was District 155,” said Stastny, shortly before his departure.

Stastny was called in to Prairie Ridge for an interview with the English staff. “Mr. Gimm and I looked at his resume and interviewed him,” Mrs. Pham revealed. “We wanted to make sure that he was smart, and that he likes kids.”

His time here was not wasted. “He worked really hard,” continued Mrs. Pham. “He also [had] a great sense of humor, which allow[ed] him to connect well with the students.”

Connecting with his students is an area in which Stastny was very skilled. This is confirmed by Jacob Surch, one of Stastny’s first hour students. He explained that whenever he had no partner, “Mr. Stastny never let [him] work by [him]self.”

All in all, Mrs. Pham thinks Stastny will be fine in his next job. “I got to help him grow,” she says, “and he can pass that knowledge onto thousands of students in the future by helping them grow.”

Now that Stastny is no longer with us, some of the students are feeling a great loss. “I feel depressed when I think of Mr. Stastny being gone,” one of Stastny’s students, Ian Holmes, admits.

“I can’t imagine a world without Mr. Stastny,” says Neil Ray, another student, trying to comprehend what just happened.

William Stastny presented a very nice interactive class time for all of his students at PR. He will surely be successful wherever he goes, but our immediate future looks a little bleak without our beloved student teacher.