John Tschida

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

John Tschida

We are here today to honor Mr. John Tschida. We are grateful that Mr. Tschida visited our class and shared his inspiring life story. We learned so much about handling changes in life with grace and how he loves the outdoors! Mr. Tschida’s story is about the power of family and perseverance.

Mr. Tschida is grew up in Minnesota. He was born in St. Paul and has lived in this area his whole life. His Mom was a delivery nurse for babies. His Dad is a metal worker. Mr. Tschida is the oldest of five children. His little brother Mike is Señora Tapia’s husband. Señora Tapia is one our teachers at Eagle Heights!

Mr. Tschida loved spending time with his family growing up. They rented cabin up north near different parks every summer. His Grandpa Wisneski loved to fish and he would take Mr. Tschida fishing. Mr. Tschida has a few fish stories as a result of all that summer fishing with his Grandpa. The size of the fish changes depending on who is telling the story.

Mr. Tschida went to Macalester College in St. Paul. He majored in creative writing and when he graduated he wanted to write novels. But he also needed to make money. So he took a job at the State Capital as a writer for a weekly magazine that was produced there. His job helped him become interested in politics. Because Mr. Tschida loved the outdoors and participated in sports he didn’t drive to work he took his bike to work.

Mr. Tschida soon started his own family. He and his wife Rachel had twin sons and a daughter! They love to do lots of outdoor stuff together. They camp, hike, and fish together. Life changed a little when the twins started Kindergarten. Mr. Tschida couldn’t be there when they got on the bus on the first morning of Kindergarten but he promised to be there at the end of the day when they got off the bus.

But he didn’t make it home that night because on his way to work had an accident on his bike. He hit a bad patch of gravel on Summit Avenue near the St. Paul Cathedral and he went head first over his handlebars. His head hit a lamp post and compressed his spinal cord. He broke his neck.

That accident caused some big changes in Mr. Tschida’s life. There are some things he can’t do that he used to be able to do and there are some things he can still do but in a little different way. He has a special car that he can drive from his wheelchair.

Mr. Tschida works for Courage Center. It’s an organization that helps people with disabilities. He advocates for laws that help people with disabilities. Mr. Tschida wants us to know that having a disability can be challenging but that you can have a great and happy life while living with a disability. Mr. Tschida still camps, fishes and travels all over the US with his family. He is still able to be a great Dad and husband.

Mr. Tschida shared some parting words of advice for us. He told us how important it is to be patient. It’s very important to be kind and not let little things upset us. Mr. Tschida said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

We enjoyed learning about Mr. Tschida’s life and we will remember to be patient! We hope you like the special song we wrote to honor your life! We would like to thank Mr. Tschida for coming into our class and sharing your life story with us. We would like to give you this rose and photograph is appreciation.