Thomas Krohn
Teacher
Richfield/Edina, MN
What do your students call you?
Teacher Tom
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Raspberry chocolate chip
What is your favorite animal?
Turtle
What is your favorite color?
Purple
Can you recount a student of yours who experienced a major “lightbulb” moment when you were with them?
One of my favorite things is seeing students and parents reactions when I’m finally able to move the island all the way across the pool. Usually neither of them realize how far they’ve been swimming and suddenly the student is swimming further than they ever thought they could! The swimmer is always so happy and the parents look so proud. It’s a really cool moment.
What is your personal favorite water activity?
Give me a good water balloon fight any day. They always make me think of summer fun!
What is your favorite FOSS story?
My favorite story is from my first session at FOSS. I had a student who was very quiet and reserved. He would go through his lessons very seriously — barely saying anything and not smiling. At the end of the session (it ended around the holidays), he gave me a giant Xmas tree painted green and on the back his mom wrote a note for him that said: “Dear teacher Tom, thanks for teaching me to swim and being funny. My favorite thing to do at home is to play ‘swimming lessons’ where I pretend I’m you and teach my little brother to swim.” Queue heart melting happy music.
