Everyone wants to know what is going on behind the scenes. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, James Cordon, and Conan O’Brien are some of the best in the business. It’s a great way to get behind-the-scenes information out of people. But not the private, family information. Instead, the “what’s your favorite cheese,” type of information. The info that will make you spend hours watching random interviews of Kevin Hart and The Rock before you realize you just wasted so much of your time when you could be doing something productive, like cleaning the fish tank. Everyone wants to know the useless information at Shore Regional High School; like what is Mr. Ecklof’s go-to Jersey Mike’s sub? How do you become a drone pilot? What is it like to work security at Target?

The first new teacher at Shore Regional is Mr. Ecklof. Mr. Luke Ecklof is the new Marketing, Business Tech, and Economics teacher. He’s straight out of Rutgers with a real passion for connecting with his students. Mr. Ecklof’s journey starts at St. John Vianney. Mr. Ecklof was a real force to be reckoned with on the wrestling mat. During his reign of terror at SJV, he compiled a 73-22 record throughout his high school career. He went 27-6 his junior year, and started 14-0 during his senior season before being forced to end his season early due to an injury. Mr. Ecklof did also bring his wrestling passion to Rutgers, but unfortunately was redshirted his freshman and sophomore years. During Mr. Ecklof’s college experience, he also got a job at Jersey Mikes. Not only was Mr. Ecklof an employee of the Jersey Mikes establishment, but also he was the assistant manager. I asked him what an assistant manager does, and he said, “slice subs.” However, his hall-of-fame sub-slicing had to come to an end when he graduated from Rutgers and found himself at Shore Regional High School. Now at Shore, Mr. Ecklof is the “volunteer assistant wrestling coach,” and never has missed a day of teaching in his Shore Regional career.

Mr. Gianni Fiore, on the other hand, is the new video production, IB film, and Business Tech teacher at Shore Regional. Mr. Fiore found his passion for filming on the college campus. He eventually needed a job, as all fresh out-of-college people need, and landed substitute teaching. It was here where Mr. Fiore found his passion for teaching. Instead of Mr. Fiore teaching something that would make him want to stab pencils into his eyeballs, he decided to teach something that made him happy and was his true passion. Relatably, Mr. Fiore is a licensed drone pilot. He has a “part 107 license with the FAA which allowed [him] to film and photograph with a drone for commercial purposes.” I asked him how to get a drone license, and he said, “you buy a drone, you register it with the FAA, and then you start flying.” It seems that almost everyone can fly a drone if they want to. Mr. Fiore also used to work at Target, where he was a salesman in the electronic department, and then was moved to security right before the pandemic. He said, “I’m definitely a really threatening security guard.” I asked him if he had any funny stories and he said, “I have witnessed someone trying to push out a 65-inch television right out the front doors of the store, and they got away with it too!” Target needs to step up its security game, maybe even get Mr. Fiore to lock down the doors.

The questions of, how to become a drone pilot, only scratched the surface of what was unearthed in the interviews of some of Shore Regional’s best new teachers. Their backgrounds, styles, and previous experiences help pave their way toward success at Shore. Their dedication got them to where they are now, and their passions helped paved the way for their Shore Regional career.