Mr. Salchert is our new Director of Technology this year at St. Edward. Many students may know him as “The Tech Guy” but have not gotten the pleasure of getting to know him as Mr. Salchert. He is busy all the time, whether he is helping students and staff with their Surface Pros or working out technical problems in the building, he is always working hard. He has always wanted to work in education since he stopped his job working in Audio-Visual production, which he refers to as his “old life”. He had met Fr. Blood during his old career and once he left his “old life”, then Fr. Blood approached him about working as St. Edward’s new Director of Technology. It was a perfect fit for him because he grew up going to small, Catholic institutions in Minnesota. He is familiar with the environment of a small school as his graduating class had 44 students.
Mr. Salchert is laid back and understanding as he came from a lot of criticism in his “old life” but the one big pet peeve he has is knotted cables or disorganization in general. When asked to describe himself in a few words, he referred to himself as “bilingual in tech and non-tech.” “I’ve spent most of my career talking to people that aren’t tech savvy, and translating for those that are, and vice versa.” His advice for students is not to forget to learn life skills as well. “A great education is essential, but so is knowing how to change your oil, balance your bank account, manage your finances, and maintain a home.”
Mr. Salchert also has a background in music. He has played the saxophone for about 15 years. St. Edward unfortunately lost our music director and Mr. Salchert offered to become the temporary band director. While he has no prior directing experience, he has seen many people do it throughout his years playing and would rather have someone try than not have a band. He, thus far, has enjoyed filling in as band director and contributing to St. Edward’s music program. “It has been great getting to know the six guys and being able to play an instrument again.”
