Students at Sterling High School have found a love for science thanks to Charlie Cuba.
Cuba is in his first six years at SHS and he has made a tremendous impact on students.
"Mr. Cuba goes out of his way to ensure students are successful. He is energetic, enthusiastic, and possesses an infectious countenance students respond to quite positively," said his Crystal Apple Award nominator, Joe Skerjanec.
It's not just what he does in the classroom though. According to Skerjanec, Cuba is often in the hallways checking on students – he'll ask about things outside of school, or he'll check to be sure a student is progressing in completing assignments or getting grades up.
"Mr. Cuba is a very positive element in our building and is quite deserving of the Crystal Apple Award," Skerjanec said.
Cuba did not intend on becoming a teacher. After high school, he went to the University of Nebraska – Kearney, where he started out studying math, which transitioned into physics, which then transitioned into molecular biology. He worked on both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Kerney and while he was a graduate assistant a lot of the doctorate students encouraged him to be a teacher, telling him he had a knack for it and a natural ability for it.
"At the time I didn't want anything to do with teaching though," Cuba said.
So, after college, he moved to Denver and went into the private sector but he didn't enjoy it so much and in the back of his mind, he always thought of teaching. At the time, he had some really good friends in Summit County and he would spend a lot of time there skiing and visiting them in summer. Thinking about what kind of career he could have in Summit County and make some money, teaching entered his mind.
Back then, in 1999, Colorado had a teacher shortage, as it does today, so the state offered an alternative teaching license, which is what Cuba earned, leading him to teach at Summit High School for 18 years.
Originally from Kearney, as he got older he was skiing less and found himself getting more into pheasant hunting and dogs. Often he would drive through Sterling to go to Nebraska and then one day he happened to be flipping through some jobs and found the opening at SHS. He decided to make the transition and move to Sterling, where he could be closer to his family, to finish out his career.
At this time he plans to teach for one more year and then retire at the end of next school year.
He thoroughly enjoys high school-age students because they remind him of himself.
"They're fun; I enjoy having fun with them. I teach by using humor a lot," Cuba said.
For him his favorite part of the job is spending time with his students.
"They crack me up a lot, every day, I laugh so hard every day. They are constantly entertaining me and keeping me on my toes," Cuba said.
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