Jeff Krieves is currently a teacher at Horizons Exploratory Academy. Everyday he has a smile on his face and is actively engaging with students. You wouldn’t guess it, but he’s been through hell and back. His journey began in Oregon in 1982. He was born to a family that was pretty laid back, which would later impact his journey.
Growing up, Jeff was very active. He was born in Oregon but moved to California to become a surfer. He also loved to ski, snowboard, hunt, fish, and skateboard. He loved being outside where he could be alone and enjoy what he loves. One time when he was playing football, he broke his back - his L4 and L5 vertebrae. When that happened, he wasn’t able to play sports anymore - that really upset him. However, he showed perseverance and continued to snowboard and pushed himself because he didn’t want to give up.
When he was 16, he started to get more freedom and he was able to go to the ski slopes and places by himself because he could drive himself there. This freedom led to him waking up early in the morning going to the slopes. But after a while, he started to get into smoking and drinking and partying so he wasn't going to the slopes as much anymore. He said that if he could change one thing in his life it would have been continuing snowboarding and skiing more because he was ranked fourth in the state In half pipe. He went on to college and after college he realized that he needed to turn his life around and to stop partying and drinking and smoking.
He started his own business and met his wife, had a kid, and moved to Salida. Jeff loves teaching high schoolers and is never leaving Salida. He enjoys Salida because he gets to hang out with people and do everything that he didn’t get to do when he broke his back.
Jeff learned from his mistakes, and the experience of breaking his back a better man because he had to endure the pain and hardship of not being able to experience all the activities he would normally do with his friends. Such as, football and snowboarding. Through that experience he built resilience that has helped him today. He's a super cool teacher and wants to be more successful in life. He plans to continue improving his life. He also tries everyday to make up for the time lost when he broke his back, and tries to not let it affect him.