SAN ANTONIO – Every month during the school year, our team at KSAT and Firstmark Credit Union honors our area educators. For the month of January, we are spotlighting a construction teacher at Holmgreen Center within Northside ISD.
Holmgreen is a specialized school for middle school and high school students who are dealing with extreme emotional and behavioral trauma.
Wesley Bauerschlag is known on this campus as “Mr. B.” He’s also known for his hard work and dedication to the students there.
A KSAT crew and Firstmark Credit Union surprised Mr. B this week with the Educator of the Month award.
Mr. B has been teaching for 17 years and has been at the Holmgreen Center for five years. He calls the campus “home.”
“Coming to school every day, working every day, this isn’t work for me,” said Bauerschlag. “This is fun and love.”
During our visit, we saw that Mr. B has a real connection with his students and everyone else on campus.
“He deserves it,” said Gavin Kollch, a 9th grader. “He’s very kind.”
“Not just for the kids, his peers, his colleagues, he is their go-to-person,” said Frank Johnson, Holmgreen Principal. “He is selfless, and (in) everything that he does, he mixes love and intelligence with all the work that he does. And, he’s been such an inspiration for me.”
“He’s been doing this a long time, and he’s not jaded about the profession,” said Michael Cline, a teacher at Holmgreen. “He still loves what he does. He cares very deeply about every single person on this campus. And, when you need him, he’s right there, no questions asked.”
Mr. B said his professor at Texas A&M University, Dr. Alvin Larke Jr., inspired him to return to school and get his Master’s and eventually teach.
“We would go to visit these student teachers, and he (Larke) said, “Look at all these tools and look at all these kids and how much impact you could have,” Mr. B said.
Mr. B is still having that impact today. Principal Frank Johnson even called him the “kid whisperer.”
“Mr. B is unique because when he comes across a kid who requires help, he knows just the right thing to say, just the right thing to do,” said Johnson. “Whether it’s getting close, standing back, whatever it is, he works hard to establish relationships with our students.”
