Camas High School is blessed to have a large, unique staff. This year, 17 new teachers came to CHS. Michael Peloquin is one of these new staff members. Peloquin is a geometry and English 11 teacher, as well as a student case manager.

Peloquin, after studying Literature and Linguistics at Western Oregon University, started teaching four years ago and has taught in the North Clackamas and Evergreen districts at the middle school and high schools.  Peloquin started teaching English even though he struggled most with it in high school or overcome his challenges.

Peloquin said that he became a teacher because, “I really didn’t enjoy school and I didn’t ever really have any teachers that I felt cared. I had some specific things that I felt that teachers could be doing differently, so instead of complaining about the issues from the outside, I thought that I could just become the change I wanted to see.” Peloquin hopes that he will be able to teach forever because it is something he really enjoys.”

Part of the change that Peloquin wants to see implemented in the classroom involves refocusing the class. He describes this by saying, “Often in a system whose final outcome and measure is a grade, an over importance is attributed to convention and form, because those things can be correct and incorrect. I like to try and refocus a classroom on ideas and content and let convention and form come in second. I find that directly and deeply interacting with student’s creativity and their original ideas provides quite a bit of motivation.”

Peloquin believes that the hardest challenge teachers face is working to meet each individual need. He explains that every student had a variety of challenges and skills that they are faced with. Peloquin works hard to make sure each student had equal opportunities in his classroom to learn. Make sure to give Mr. Peloquin a warm welcome to the CHS family.