Gene Champagne
Special Education Consultant
Gene Champagne is now entering his 4th year as the Special Education Consultant at Burt Township School. Gene also works full-time as a special education teacher/coordinator at North Star Academy in Marquette, in addition to coaching basketball there, making him a very busy man! He is currently entering his 17th year of teaching and admits that he went to college on the “25 year plan”. Although he would not recommend this plan to any of his students, it does illustrate that you should not give up on your dreams if they don’t come true the first time around.
Gene lives in Big Bay, 120 miles west of Grand Marais on Lake Superior. He enjoys living and teaching in small town schools. Gene’s wife of 28 years just retired after teaching 32 years, mostly at Powell Township School in Big Bay.
Outside of school, Gene likes to do just about anything outdoors, especially kayaking in Lake Superior during the summer and cross-country skiing all over the UP in the winter. Gene is an avid fan for all Michigan sports teams, as opposed to most ‘yoopers’ that support a certain football team from Wisconsin. Gene thinks that “if you work at Shopko, maybe you should shop there too.”
Date: September 19, 2011