Beloved English and public speaking teacher John Milsovic, also known as Mr. Shostak, has had an electric lifestyle growing up. Milsovic grew up in North western Pennsylvania in a town called Meadville, where he took interests in social studies, and of course English. Milsovic always admired sports, which led him to soccer and hockey where he enjoyed every breath on the ice and field.

On the weekends he would try to stay in shape for soccer and hockey, but also loved helping people around his neighborhood. Milsovic and his friends were into cars as well, especially a Camaro which was his first car.

Mr. Milsovic still recalls some of the teachers that helped him throughout high school. He specifically remembers his three teachers. The first two being Mr. Hartick and Mrs. Kibler, who Milsovic said Mrs. Kibler “was the finest teacher he’d ever had”. The third was Mrs. Schall.“They taught me how to look at something on a page, whether it was in a novel, or history book, and they’d help me figure out what the words truly meant. Not only in the literary context, but in my personal life,” Milsovic said.

These three teachers made Milsovic look at words in such a way that he became interested in the world of literature.

Milsovic’s two favorite authors are Harper Lee and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Lee is the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and Fitzgerald is the author of “The Great Gatsby.”

Some of his family members who made him the man he is now are his mom’s parents who he used to call nanny and pappy. His pappy who only had an eighth grade education taught himself advanced math, carpentry and plumbing. “He was an incredible person” Milsovic states about his pappy. His nanny taught school for forty-five years, and also taught Mr. Milsovic the importance of words. Milsovic’s father was in the military when he was a child and was always helping his community out in any way possible.

A key essential that Mr. Milsovic carries around in his pocket everyday is an old brass key that he found in the 70’s with his pappy while trying out pappy’s new metal detector. “I was excited at age seven because I thought that we would find some sort of treasure chest that the key would unlock, unfortunately we didn’t and he could tell I was upset”. “I think he’s encouraging me to keep it and look for a perhaps some kind of lock that will open into some kind of new experience.” Milsovic says.

The nickname “Mr. Shostak”  comes from the vocabulary words he wants not just his students, but the whole world to use in their sentences. Milsovic uses the term “Shostak word” after saying one of his Shostak like “cunning” or “mollified.” Milsovic is the king of these words, which is why he nicknamed himself Mr. Shostak.