Time To 'Dew' Retirement

Every morning, Principal Mike Erickson greets students at Encampment K-12 School.

Standing in the middle of the foyer, he gives fist bumps to both primary and secondary students as they start their day. On May 31, he will be giving fist bumps for the last time. After 19 years as principal and 30 years in education, Erickson will be retiring. According to the outgoing principal, now’s a good time to retire.

Rather Early Than Late

“There’s a lot of things that I’ll miss but anybody who knows me knows that I’d rather be early than late. Now’s a good time. My wife and I worked hard so I could retire at 55 and take advantage of that,” said Erickson. “Guy and his wife are in Oklahoma finishing grad school. We’ll have more time to travel back and forth.”

Guy, who is a 2016 graduate of Encampment K-12 School, is currently in an optometry program. According to Erickson, following a summer filled with seeing patents, he’ll return to classes in the fall.

“His schedule is pretty set now, so it’s easier if my schedule is a little more flexible,” said Erickson.

After nearly 20 years anywhere, one would hope they leave a lasting impact with the students and staff. Such seems to be the case with Erickson. On the day of his interview with the Saratoga Sun, full cans of Mountain Dew were stacked on his desk with more up against a wall of his office. Additionally, Mountain Dew-themed artwork was placed around the room with sayings like “Time To Dew Adventures” or “Onto Dew Things.”

“The kids’ know that’s my thing. I joke with the kids when they want signatures, ‘You didn’t bring the proper paperwork. It takes a cold 20 ounce Mountain Dew to quench my thirst so I can write my name.’ I tease them with stuff like that,” said Erickson. “I think most every kid in the school has, at one time or another, come in (with a Mountain Dew).”

Student-Principal Interaction

Earlier that day, Erickson and some students had gone to lunch at the BearTrap Cafe and Bar in Riverside just outside Encampment. This, he said, was something he started doing in addition to overseeing a screener program as part of new social/emotional requirements in education.

“We’ve been doing a mentoring program because one of the big pushes now is the social/emotional part of education. We have been using a screener here which helps us identify the kids that have some areas like that,” said Erickson. “Then we have kids that are doing well and they go to the staff and say ‘How come we don’t get to be part of it?’”

In response, Erickson started taking time with students who didn’t fit the requirements for the social/emotional programs but were interested in spending time with their principal.

“I never try and force the relationship with a student,” said Erickson. “It’s based on how well particular students and I click and if we have things in common. It’s never forced but they don’t necessarily have the opportunity to be a part of the formal program we’re trying to run.”

Another program which could be considered a lasting impact from Erickson could be Encampment K-12 School’s Buddy Program. This program pairs up elementary school students with middle school or high school students.

“I taught in a middle school in Evanston for 10 years before I became the principal here. My son was in kindergarten and 1st grade in Evanston and he didn’t want to come to the middle school with me all the time because he wasn’t familiar with the big kids. You get here and we’re fostering that family thing and how they know each other,” said Erickson. “We invite the elementary kids to come and watch the games and give them the old Tiger gear so they can wear it to the games and foster that sense of family and community.”

The program seems to work well, as the elementary students get to spend time with older students and the middle and high school students are reminded they are remodels. It doesn’t hurt, said Erickson, that the older kids are able to get a recess with the younger students.

That fostering of a community spirit and reminding students how they represent the school is important to Erickson.

“I love to win whatever we compete in but I’m far more concerned with how you represent the school and the example you set. If I get those reports from other schools, I reward and reinforce those far more than I do (winning games),” said Erickson. “It’s great to win a State Championship and be All-State. That’s great, I want to see more of that, but I want to see how you represent the school. That’s far more important to me.”

As for his morning routine of greeting students as they walk into school, Erickson said that’s something he picked up while in Evanston.

“I was an interim principal at an elementary school in Evanston for a lady that was out for some medical reasons,” said Erickson. “That was one of the things she did. She was out there greeting the students. I don’t get to interact with the kids in the classroom every day because of the various responsibilities. That is the one time I get to.”

The Good and The Bad

With nearly 20 years as a school administrator, it means seeing students on their best days and students on their worst days. According to Erickson, while there’s not one “big moment” in his time at Encampment he can look back on, there are plenty of little ones he said made his time there worth it.

“You get those little glimpses of ‘Hey, it clicked for this kid.’ There’s a lot of those little moments,” said Erickson. “There’s a lot of things that happen that you can really publicize, that they don’t get the headlines, but there’s a lot of those little things that just happen.”

Along with the good, however, comes the bad.

“I am far more familiar with the court system and lawyers than I ever imagined I’d be becoming an educator. I’ve been subpoenaed multiple times, just for doing your job. You get to see all those issues that are going on and the pain that it causes families and students. That’s a hard thing there,” said Erickson. “That will be nice to step back away from that and not have to be worried about that. I can recite from memory DFS’ (Department of Family Services) phone number and I can tell you the extensions of the people who work there because that’s what you have to do.”

Moving On

Anymore, it seems spending 19 years at any job is a milestone, especially in education. According to ThinkImpact, up to 30% of new teachers quit their job within the first five years of teaching. The national average tenure for principals in their schools, as of 2017, was four years according to the the Learning Policy Institute. Additionally, according to the National Institute for Education Statistics, only about 11 percent of principals in Wyoming have 10 or more years of experience at their current school as of the 2018 school year.

“I feel like it was such a good fit both ways. For me and my family and I think we were a good fit for the school and the community,” said Erickson. “Most of the time, principals last four years at a building. There’s only two people on staff I haven’t hired out of the 43 that work here.”

As Erickson prepares to retire, there’s little concern on his part that the next principal will have Encampment K-12 School’s best interests in mind. Earlier this year, the Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees hired Jake Johnston as principal for beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Johnston, a graduate of Saratoga Middle High School, has taught 5th grade in Encampment for 12 years.

“As I knew that this was coming, there’s been three staff members that I’ve observed and I thought ‘It’s possible they have the traits and could do the job.’ Jake’s one of them and he’s been here teaching for 12 years,” said Erickson. “I’m the only administrator he’s ever worked under and I’ve been helping him do his program and he’s been doing an internship with me. I talk with him about a lot of stuff.”

With retirement on the horizon, and Encampment school in good hands, Erickson said he is looking forward to one thing this fall.

“I’m very much looking forward to having a fall where I don’t quit fishing the first of August,” said Erickson. “I’m going to take a step back, slow down a little bit and not be in charge of everything for a little while.”