Starting his second year at Lake Central High School as a Chemistry and ICP teacher, Mr. Daniel Fox is adjusting to teaching here at Lake Central. Only five years prior, he was going to school here, walking the halls of the old building.

“I chose to teach at LC because I really liked being a student here and coming back was kind of my dream in college. I got the chance to observe and student teach at a bunch of different high schools in Northwest Indiana like Merrillville and Hobart and none of them really stacked up to LC, for me anyway. So, when the opportunity came it was a dream come true,” Fox said.

After being the last graduating class from LC that used the old building, Mr. Fox moved onto Valparaiso University. There he studied, chemistry and physics.

“In college my main mentor and professor, a guy who got me through mostly everything in college, was a chemistry professor as well so I worked really closely with him. Chemistry has just always made a lot of sense to me. It’s my favorite subject. I graduated [from Valparaiso University] the summer of 2017,” Fox said.

After student teaching, Fox got an email from a teacher he student-taught for telling him about the job opening at Lake Central. Fox then emailed Mr. Sean Begley asking for an interview.

“I emailed Mr. Begley and [told him] ‘Hey I’m a Chemistry Major and a Physics Minor. I would love to apply for this job.’ I came in the next morning for an interview and that was it. They hired me on the spot. It was [a] really lucky [opportunity] for me and I feel really blessed to have gotten this [chance],” Fox said.

Being able to call his former teachers colleagues was a weird transition for Fox, but he wouldn’t be where he is now without them.

“Now that I’m teaching it’s really great to come back and have all of my former teachers that I had and that inspired me to be a teacher now as colleagues they have been a huge help and support to me these last two years now so that’s probably the coolest part,” Fox said.