This spring, after a recent retirement from 27 years of teaching, new mathematics teacher Mike Rust was tutoring students and felt the call back to teaching.
“It made me really miss working with students,” Mike adds. “I was looking for a small school setting and I heard about the opening at Crossroads. It felt as though the stars were aligned.”
A native of Belleville, Illinois, Mike earned his bachelor’s at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and master’s at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He spent his teaching career teaching at Clayton High School, where he taught a variety of mathematics classes, including AP Calculus.
At Crossroads, Mike teaches a variety of classes including Honors Algebra 2, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and College Algebra. He also has a ninth grade advisory and has supported the ninth grade faculty team on community-building at the start of the year.
“The students have been fantastic,” Mike says. “I went on the ninth grade retreat to Camp Manitowa and I’ve really been impressed with the unity of that class.”
Mike is married to his college sweetheart, Missy. In their free time they enjoy extensive travel; favorite recent destinations include Ireland, Iceland, and Croatia. Once Winter Break begins, Mike and Missy will travel to Germany and France for the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Markets) Mike also is an avid antiquer and can be found in St. Louis scouring estate sales for treasures.