The first thing that might catch your eye walking into E05 is the art on the walls — renaissance paintings and historical posters cover nearly every inch, giving the classroom warmth and intrigue. Like his meticulously organized bright blue desks that provide a fun and striking contrast to the warm-toned decorations, social studies teacher Brian Knitter’s past and present careers couldn’t be more different.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. But when my wife and I got married, we decided one of us should be a teacher because one of us should make money,” Knitter said. “So my wife became a teacher, and I became an engineer.”
For 25 years, Knitter worked as a semiconductor engineer and manager after getting his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, he said. However, he decided to go back to school and get his master’s degree in art history, which came much closer to what he teaches in the classroom.
“The older I got, the more history made sense to me,” Knitter said. “I travel all over the place, and travel and history just go hand in hand.”
Knitter started traveling as a child because his father was in the Navy, he said. Five years of his childhood were spent overseas, where he got to tour Asia.
“I just kind of got that bug,” Knitter said. “So when I could finally start affording to travel again, after I got out of college, I did.”
Knitter has traveled all over Europe and Asia, including Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam, and Thailand, he said. He enjoys eating the food and learning about the people in different countries. Just as he is pleased by the routine of his daily life, he likes observing ordinary life in the countries he visits.
“My favorite day in Europe is trash day,” Knitter said. “I’ll get up at six in the morning and just watch people work and how they do things in their own countries.”
When he’s not teaching or traveling, Brian Knitter works as a professional musician in the bands Thünderhüg and Age of Reason, the latter of which has been around for thirty years, he said. He mainly plays the bass guitar, along with acoustic and electric guitar and drums, he said.
“We usually play rock ‘n’ roll for 30- to 60-year-olds, like ‘70s, ‘80s music,” he said. “But I like the more technical stuff, which is progressive rock.”
Knitter lives with his wife, Barbara Knitter, who teaches the Quest class at Thomas Russell Middle School, he said.
Barbara Knitter described her husband as a “renaissance man” because he’s good at a variety of things, including art, history, math, science, music, and cooking.
“When I was teaching fourth grade, he actually came into my classroom to teach art,” Barbara Knitter said. “He really always knew how to relate with students.”
The couple met because he was her Sunday school teacher, and they got married in 1988, Barbara Knitter said. They have two kids: Jeffrey Knitter, who attends college and works in a repair shop in Australia, and Courtney, who is working on getting a doctor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine.
“Outside of school, he’s actually kind of shy,” Barbara Knitter said. “As a teacher, he’s out there and he has to interact with the students, so they probably don’t believe it.”
According to Rachael Gunn, vocalist for Thünderhüg and a dance teacher, who’s known Brian Knitter for around 20 years, Brian Knitter is a good type of perfectionist.
“He demands for himself that things be very high quality, if not flawless,” she said. “But he doesn’t put those expectations on others. He accepts others as they are.”
Both Gunn and Barbara Knitter stressed Brian Knitter’s great memory and ear for music.
“Tell him something once he will be able to recall it forever and ever,” Gunn said. “He can hear a song or play a song once, and then six months later, we pull that song back up. And he’s got it note for note.”
When asked what motivates him in times of hardship, Brian Knitter explained that he is resilient and has faith in God.
“My dad’s a pastor, among other things. He was a Navy chaplain, and I am definitely a churchgoer. That’s a big part of me and my wife’s life,” he said. “But I also just don’t let things get me down. I think a lot of positivity goes a long way.”
Brian Knitter added that he enjoys the routine of everyday life — coming to school early in the morning, teaching different subjects, and going home. His main piece of advice to students is to do what makes them happy.
“Everybody will chase after the money, but in the end, happiness wins. If you do something you love, the money will come,” he said. “You’ll live longer, you’ll be happier. Life’s too short for a bad boss or a bad job.”