Mr. Wilks - A man of many talents

By: Sofia Oliva

You might know Mr. Wilks as an English teacher, who enjoys reading,

writing fiction, and poetry, who likes to share, but reading and teaching isn’t all that he does. Wilks has many hobbies that he does in his free time such as art, writing, reading (of course), poetry, bonsai, building custom motorcycles, skiing, and fishing. He’s even published one of his poetries.

He and wife have a son who graduated from the Criminal Justice at Eastern Washington University and, is a current rodeo bull rider, and a 13 year old daughter who attends Pioneer Middle School in Walla Walla, that plays soccer and does cross country. They seem like a pretty busy family: however, they still have time to care for their pets. He has four cats, 4 quarter horses, two dogs, 3 rabbits and about 6 fish.

Wilks grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, attended Lexington Missouri High School, and after his high school years, he went to the University of Montana, Texas A&M University, and Walla Walla University. If you want to know about any state in the U.S, ask Mr. Wilks. Why? He mentioned that he has visited every state! Not only that he has also gone to Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica, he has lived in 6 different states, and comes from a military family. “The Grand Canyon, 4 Corner Areas, and the British Columbia were the most beautiful places I have visited.” Mr. Wilks said.

How did a guy like him who’s been in quite a few places, find McLoughlin? He mentioned that he lives nearby the Walla Walla County and he has participated in numerous sporting events in the area. He’s only going onto his 2nd year of teaching, his first being at College Place Sager Middle School, and his 2nd year is now here at Mac-Hi. He believes it's a chance to try be a positive influence in young people’s lives, so that’s why he enjoys teaching.