Substitute teacher Art Krikorian has been working at MHS since 1986 and has since evolved his teaching technique and formed valuable bonds with generations of students, he said.
Over time, students taught Krikorian how to be a better substitute teacher, he said. His style of handling a classroom has changed to be more compassionate and understanding, he added.
“I think (for) any teacher, you have to have your eyes and ears open and observe and listen,” Krikorian said. “The students teach you a lot over time, and they taught me how to be a better sub.”
Krikorian was born in 1961 in Southern California and moved to the Bay Area in 1967, he said. He spent his teenage years attending Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, he added.
“(My neighborhood) was the tail end of what’s called the Valley Heart Slice,” Krikorian said. “I grew up with apricot orchards right across the street. It has all been demolished since.”
Krikorian attended San Jose State University, which was a great experience where people could be confident in their identity, he added.
“I always tell students, if they like high school, they’ll love college,” Krikorian said. “I also tell them if they don’t like high school, they’ll love college.”
During his time at college, Krikorian began to work in performing arts theater, he said. Krikorian got to see numerous ballet, symphony, and theater performances, and he would occasionally bump into celebrities, he added. Krikorian loved that job, which he worked for fifteen years, he said.
“I started running late in my college career and that was the beginning of a long running career,” Krikorian said. “There was a long period where I would do one or two races a month.”
Krikorian majored in meteorology with a minor in math, he said. It was a rigorous course of study, involving a lot of physics and highly advanced math, he added.
“Out of college, I got a pretty good job in the private industry,” Krikorian said. “I was working in weather forecasting.”
Krikorian left that job after three months, giving up an adequate salary, because the 12-hour shifts were very demanding, he said.
“The worst part was every three weeks you would shift from day shift to night shift,” Krikorian said. “Your body was constantly having to adjust.”
Working at a desk job in meteorology taught Krikorian that he desired something more social, he said. He learned he liked being around people, and that guided him towards teaching, he added. Shortly after that, he began to work as a substitute teacher at MHS, he said.
“Classroom management was a challenge,” Krikorian said. “Any teacher who was working in those days would say the same thing. These days it is a breeze because kids are good.”
Krikorian’s first decade as a substitute was spent mostly inside math classrooms, he said. Because of his background in advanced mathematics, Krikorian felt comfortable in his abilities to keep the curriculum going in the absence of a teacher, he said.
“When I was first starting out as a sub, somebody asked if I was in the military,” Krikorian said. “I probably was nervous and overcompensating by acting authoritatively.”
Krikorian would look over students’ shoulders more often and tell them to get to work, which most likely annoyed them, he said. Since then, his student-interaction skills have improved and his technique for dealing with a classroom has changed, he added.
“One of the things I’ve learned is that you can’t change a student’s behavior in an hour,” Krikorian said. “In the hour I have with them, I try to get to know them. After I get to know them, maybe later I could change their behavior.”
Krikorian is a great substitute because he is friendly and sympathetic to students, while also being well-spoken, senior Nathanael James said.
“He is not super energetic for no reason, and not dull either,” James said. “He is really fun to have conversations with and a great listener.”
Students respect Krikorian, which makes him a great substitute to have, photography teacher Ian Danielson said. Krikorian also has a good relationship with teachers because they trust him to do a good job, he added.
“When I am looking for a sub, I always go to him first,” Danielson said. “To look at my schedule and have a day where I have him (substituting for me) matters to me; it makes me feel a lot better about missing a day.”
Krikorian is reliable, Danielson said. He follows the lesson plan that he is given, but he also takes time to interact with students and checks in the next day to make sure everything goes well, he added.
“Students can pick up on all of the aspects of subs that come in and don’t really care about anything that’s going on,” Danielson said. “So the students know that he cares; they also know he has limits on what he will allow, so he gains respect automatically.”