Prospect teacher Tim Schaap has been fishing his entire life. As the head of the Bass Fishing Team, he is able to pass that love of fishing onto another generation. For the second time in his tenure at Prospect High School, he purchased a new boat for the team. 

While Schaap was able to buy the boat on Craigslist for a discount, there was a reason the boat was at a discount: the interior wooden frame of the boat was rotting away. Schaap saw this as an opportunity for his students to learn. He connected with Billy Kosick of Bottoms Up Boat Repair to fix the boat. Kosick happened to be interested in education and possibly becoming a teacher, so he was happy to teach the Bass Fishing Team how to repair the boat and help with the project. 

“Teaching has always been a world I’ve wanted to join,” Kosick said in an interview with the Prospector in November. “I have never seen a group of kids this excited to get their hands dirty and it is exciting to me.”

When the boat got to a certain point it had to be worked on at Kosich’s shop, so Schaap took the initiative to take students on Sundays up to the repair shop in one of the school vans to continue work on the boat. 

Senior bass fishing team member Damian Kukuc is glad to have a dedicated teacher like Mr. Schaap.

“It really shows Mr. Schaap’s passion for the work and the commitment he has put into the team,” Kukuc said.