Have you ever met someone more passionate to help others than Mr. Fielder?  Mr. Fiedler is a teacher that is dedicated to his job here at Mineral Point.  I got a chance to sit down with him and ask him a few questions, here is what he had to say.

My first question is, what made you go into the job position you are in today? 

So when I went to college, I was initially thinking of social studies.  I realized I wouldn’t get a job if I stayed with social studies. Social studies have a lot of people that have their licenses and that are looking for jobs.  I then took a class everyone going into teaching had to take. It was called Psych 205, Psychology of the Exceptional Child, talking about special ed kids and those that have high needs, and I loved it. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about the laws, a lot about everything that goes into it, and I kind of got hooked from there.  But yeah, that’s why I get to do that stuff.

My second question is, when and why did you become a wrestling coach?

I’ve done wrestling since I was three years old. Wrestling was a big part of my life. I was successful at it. I wouldn’t say I was good, but I was successful at it in high school.  I wanted to stay involved after high school. So my first coaching gig was at Fort Atkinson while I was still in college.  From there I got hired as a teacher at River Valley and coached there, and now, I coach here.  I planned on coming in and hopefully being Mr. Schmitz’s right-hand man, and then Coach Schmitz decided to retire from the coaching aspect.  Those are some big shoes to fill.  I got good people around me to help me coach Mineral Point wrestling, so that’s fun. So it’s just enjoyable to work with the kids and the coaches.

Who helped you the most?

I’d say mom and dad, for sure—George and Marlene, who are Mineral Point lifers. I don’t know many people that bleed blue more than them.  Coach Schmitz is certainly up there. He allowed me to watch him do his thing and kind of emulate him in what he does. He’s also a guy I can send a phone call to and ask questions if I got any.  He’s always there for me to help out whenever he can. And then the coaches around me are awesome. Grant Miller is one of the best to talk to with this stuff. TJ Burke has been both of those guys and has been around for a long time. Cory Sokol is one of the best coaches for all sports, and he, in the wrestling room, brings a whole new dynamic that the kids need.  You can take it to the middle school with Nate Chambers and Mike Potterton. Take it to the youth with Kolbi McReynolds, Justin Sokol, Joe Terrell, and Scottie Pittz.  All those guys have been great. The volunteers have been awesome in helping us whenever we need it. It makes life easy for me when you got good people around. I get to stand on the shoulders of giants. When it comes to Mineral Point wrestling, it doesn’t matter who’s “head coach”.

My next question is, why did you keep your career in Mineral Point?

So right out of college, I graduated in December 2011.  I got a long-term sub job at Stoughton. I was originally offered the job here at Mineral Point in 2012, but I declined it because I wasn’t ready to come home yet.  I had Mr. Burreson, Mr. Steger, VG, Mr. Cool, and Mr. Robinson as teachers, and I worried they wouldn’t see me as a professional teacher. I was worried they would still see me as the pain in the backside kid I was in high school.  They probably still see me as a pain in the backside kid. Anyways, It was nice to come home, but it was nice to stay away for a little while.  I had to figure out my own thing and what works, and then come back here.

Where did you initially think you would end up when you were younger?

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  Mrs. Klaas was my favorite teacher. I needed that structure, that black and white, you couldn’t give me a gray area, or I would test it, and Mrs. Klaas made sure that didn’t happen. So watching all those teachers, I always wanted to be one of them. And luckily, everything worked out; I became a teacher and then came back here to Mineral Point.

My last question is, do you enjoy what you do and why?

I really do.  I get to hang out with all these kids.  Not only teach all of them but have conversations with them that keep me young at heart.  What impresses me here is how good the school is with some of the kids I work with.  The students are so excellent with these kids I work with, and I get that it can be nerve-wracking because it’s the unknown.  Students here at Mineral Point just jump in headfirst and work with these kids.  That’s what makes it enjoyable watching all your kids interact that way. And realistically, some of their best years are going to be high school, and they may not get the socializing down the road. So they get to experience that here. That’s a blast to watch in real-time. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m very happy with what I’m doing here at Mineral Point.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity