Don Koon has been a substitute teacher for most of his life, beginning in his early thirties. Before teaching, he worked in various places, including coffee shops, gardening centers, ski resorts, national parks, house painting and fish canneries in Alaska.

Koon spent 11 summers in a row in Alaska working with people from all over the world.

“It’d be really cool. You’d be working on the slime line and you’d meet somebody. Then pretty soon you’re talking literature and just working with fish and talking about your favorite authors and books and it really helped to pass the time,” said Koon. 

Koon says his variation in job titles has made him adaptable despite the unreliable income. He has taught at a variety of schools in Portland but tends to gravitate towards Lincoln.

“I have a preference because over the years. I have [gotten to know] students, and then I tend to know their younger siblings as they come through, like, ‘Oh, you’re so and so’s brother or sister,’” said Koon. “So I have relationships, and then I know teachers as well. The familiarity makes it almost like being a regular teacher. That’s why I like the consistency of just coming to one school.”

Koon says one of his biggest role models in his early twenties was a Vietnam War veteran, who was Koon’s supervisor and mentor while working at a ski resort.

“He was into bicycling and health food, and we used to make smoothies with cayenne pepper in them and apples and carrots. And we’d do a juice and you could just feel the garlic and the cayenne burn as you drink it. Then, we’d hop on our bikes and jam, just jam up to the Lakes Basin [in California],” said Koon. “[We went] from 7,800 feet [elevation] to about 8,500 or 9,000 feet.”

Koon advises young people to slow down and enjoy life.

“Be patient with yourself. A lot of young people, some know what they’re going to do, some don’t, even my son who is approaching 30 years old. I said, ‘Listen. You can always quit. You can go back to school.’ That’s what youth buys you,” said Koon. “Grow. Explore. Learn. Try to have some fun. In your twenties, it’s a good time to have fun.”