Caleb Kulfan, Verde Valley School’s International Baccalaureate environmental systems and societies teacher and music teacher, received the Arizona International Baccalaureate Schools Program Teacher of the Year award on Friday, Sept. 8, during the organization’s meeting in Mesa.
“His students already know how amazing he is, but now it’s official,” AZIBS said in its announcement.
“I grew up in [northern] Michigan,” Kulfan said. “I attended Prescott College, and I was studying natural history and ecology there. But then I ended up kind of dual enrolling in a masters of education program, and that’s what eventually led me to Verde Valley School.”
Prior to his time at Prescott College, Kulfan spent two years in the National Civilian Community Corps program in the eastern United States working on trail construction, wildland fire and disaster relief.
Kulfan said he is thinking about purchasing an espresso maker with the gift certificate that came with the award. However, he added that he was more excited about a recent donation of $600 from VVS Board of Trustees member Thomas Standrin for new musical equipment and a dissolved oxygen reader for the school’s environmental science program.
“I’ve been playing music since I was a kid,” Kulfan said, who plays everything from piano to the banjo. “I studied some classical horn performance at Interlochen [Arts Academy] in high school, but then also learned how to play guitar and piano. I played banjo in a band in college and now, luckily enough, [with] the music teacher lifestyle, I get to teach most of my favorite things. Then at [VVS], we have the regular music class and then I also teach like a rock band in the afternoons. I went to Newport Jazz Fest and saw Herbie Hancock over the summer. So, rediscovering jazz.”
“He is a Renaissance man,” Head of School Ben Lee said of Kulfan. “He loves the outdoors and is our number-one wildlife expert on campus … any animal, he can tell you what it is, and instantly tell you lots about it.”
Prior to joining VVS, Kulfan worked as a park ranger, leading high school trips during the summers of 2014 and 2015 at Grand Canyon National Park, where he met his now-wife Kaylyn Oates. He has also worked as a river guide in the Colorado Rockies.
“[Kulfan] is a wonderful, extraordinarily talented teacher and human being,” Lee said. “He is the kind of guy who is quite private and appears to be shy. However, you put him in front of a class, and he just lights up. He’s funny, he’s inspiring. He’s goofy. He’s really smart, and he just teaches a wonderful science class and a wonderful music class as well.”
This is Kulfan’s eighth year at VVS, and while his wife also teaches ninth-grade history and science at VVS, it’s the students that keep bringing him back.
“I’m not a parent, but I sort of feel that love towards my students [in] wanting the best for them and wanting to see them succeed,” Kulfan said. “They are always so willing to dive into whatever I give them and I appreciate them so much for that.”
Apart from the educational content, Kulfan said that he thought what stuck with him about AZIBS’ selection process was his view that teachers are “ there to create good people. I start my class with the community and making a space where everyone feels welcome and feels like they can express themselves, and that’s sort of my main goal in the classroom.”
Self-expression for Kulfan comes with affording others the same ability.
“I’m remembering a couple students that were having a political discussion and they have exact opposite views,” Kulfan said. “But they’re still good friends and they can engage with each other. It’s cool how they both respect each other’s views. I didn’t even have them as students until this year. That’s sort of the goal, to try to get people to be able to be who they are and to accept others as they are.”
