MEET JOHN LUNDGREN

I grew up as a foster kid—but not the horror story kind.

My foster family taught me essential survival skills: how to fish for trout and walleyes, and how to pick deer hair off venison. In school, I was a 108-pound underdog on the wrestling team. I won one match my first year—character-building, they called it.

In high school, I dominated every fundraiser known to man thanks to 86 loyal paper route customers. (Buy the chocolate bars… or lose your morning news. Your move.)

I’ve earned three college degrees (yes, really), and found my calling teaching junior high—where my 12-year-old brain feels right at home.

When I’m not corralling middle schoolers, I serve on community boards, tend my garden, write, hike, and fish—with varying degrees of success.