The first thing you see upon entering Associate Principal Skyler Draeger’s office is the large, colorful quilt that repurposes various class and Trojan Olympics T-shirts from the past 28 years. The quilt reminds Draeger of his commitment to MHS, he said.
“I was 23 years old when I started on this campus,” Draeger said. “I’m 51 now, so I’ve spent the better part of my adult life working with this school. What drew me here is what keeps me here: I love the students. There’s something different about Milpitas; it’s what gives me the energy to continue to do what I love.”
After student-teaching at MHS for two years, Draeger began teaching full time, serving as English department lead for several years before becoming an assistant principal. In the 2022-23 school year he was the associate principal, he said. Draeger will be leaving administration next year to return teaching Read 180 and Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) next year, both specialized English classes, he said.
“I like the challenge and diversity of the administrative job,” Draeger said. “At the time that I made the shift from teacher to administration, I knew I needed to challenge myself, try something different. But I’ve sorely missed the classroom and having a depth of connection with students.”
With Draeger serving as acting principal when the interim principals weren’t able to due to their retirement status, Draeger provided stability to the school in a unique year, Interim Principal Charles Gary said.
Since Gary is retired, he is limited to coming to school for only two days each for the last three months of the school year, he said. For the rest of the school days, the responsibility of being the face of the school and acting principal fell to Draeger.
“The only constant in all this chaos of change has been Mr. Draeger,” Gary said. “Coming to the end of the year, I had to work less days to keep my pension, and that’s where he stepped in. No one has spent more time on the job in a week, period.”
Draeger’s overflowing compassion and ambition for education is what stands out in his work ethic, Gary said.
“I was full-time principal when Draeger was a teacher, and he was a passionate, involved, and hardworking teacher,” Gary said.
When Draeger was a teacher, he misunderstood the all-consuming aspect of administration, he said.
“I thought that, as an administrator, I have more control over my time, but I found that I have less because I wasn’t prepared for all of the surprises that could drop,” Draeger said.
English department co-lead Tonichi Lorenzana began teaching at MHS in 2013 when Draeger was the English department lead. To this day, he uses the curriculum that he and Draeger developed for the support reading class Read 180. Draeger’s perspective coming back into the classroom is like zooming in on the broader picture, Lorenzana said.
“It’s like if someone knew all the theory and now they had to apply it in practice,” Lorenzana said. “Draeger is always open to learning, so I know the adjustment will be just fine.”
What stood out the most to Lorenzana about Draeger was his versatility in teaching, he said.
“There were times when Draeger taught classes that required him to create a new curriculum from scratch because no one else wanted to,” Lorenzana said. “That dedication of ‘I’m going to take on this new challenge’ is what I think when I think about Draeger’s impact at MHS.”
Draeger’s family was also a huge deciding factor in his decision to move back from administration to teaching, Draeger said.
“My daughter is a sophomore here, and I’m their ride (home),” Draeger said. “So, if I’m in a meeting until 9 p.m. on a school night, they are here too. As a single parent, it really put into perspective just how many hours I took from family time to do my job.”
When Draeger developed a sense of resentment towards his family for getting in the way of his work, Draeger knew he had to set boundaries, he said.
“I found that I wasn’t getting time for myself, and, sadly, this is something I know a lot of high schoolers can relate to,” Draeger said. “I love to mountain bike and spend time in coffee shops. I have a life outside of school.”
Draeger and his daughter are also in a close group of mothers and their children that camp and travel together, he said.
“In reality, a lot of my life has been spent at MHS, and I knew I would get more control of my time as a teacher,” Draeger said.
Focusing on family and doing what he loves is a conscious and much-needed step away from an action-packed seven years as an administrator, Draeger said.
“I’ve always been a department lead, a site leader, admin, the teacher running AVID or Read 180 for my entire career,” Draeger said. “I got into those things right from the start. This will be the first year where I don’t have a specific role, and I’m excited to find my niche wherever I can make the most impact.”