Building the passion for teaching

Not only has Walsh made an impression on those who taught him, but those he taught and then became co-workers with have felt his presence.

“Even now I still call him Mr. Walsh,” former student and current math teacher Dan Likos said. “I respect him because he’s been teaching for so long and done it well.”

Likos had Walsh for Chemistry in 1993 and then got reacquainted with his former teacher when he began teaching at De Smet in 2007.

“I had fun and learned a lot in junior year chemistry with Mr. Walsh,” Likos said. “He’s always kind of been a mentor to me as he has seen a lot of things and knows all the tricks in teaching so it was helpful having him here when I came back.”

Both teachers attended the University of Dayton after high school and Walsh helped influence Likos’s decision to go there.

“When it was that time junior year to start looking at colleges, I heard Mr. Walsh talk about Dayton,” Likos said. “Because I respected him and saw his success I thought if it was good for him it could work out well for me so I went there.”

Likos has learned a lot from Walsh’s experience but there is one lesson that has stood out.

“He taught me to not be afraid to have fun and joke around as a student and a teacher,” Likos said. “Teaching doesn’t have to be serious all the time.”