Vietnam War veteran impacts students through Bible classes

After teaching at Fresno Christian for five years, Donn Rojeski has influenced several high school classes, in a position he originally believed wouldn’t last long. His original job consisted of leading a debate club on campus that lacked student support, but Rojeski’s teaching background led FC to hire him as a New Testament Bible teacher.

Rojeski’s wife, Hallie Rojeski, teaches junior high history on campus. Rojeski loves working at the same school as his wife. He uses her availability to gain discernment when he needs insight on a situation.

Despite his many years at the school, most students only know a few things about their Bible instructor. Rojeski is a Vietnam War veteran and a former county attorney in Grant, Nebraska. He became an avid reader during the time he spent semi-retired and read an average of 100-120 books each year.

Rojeski’s love for knowledge kept him involved with junior high and high school students.

Annually, Rojeski would coach FC’s field teams for the creative problem solving competitions Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination. Grades three through twelve competed and Rojeski took them to world competitions at least twice while the school still participated.

During his involvement with the teams, he served as a regional director for several years and as a State of California director for two years.

During his mid 20s, Rojeski chose to pursue a career in law. A year into his education, the United States Army drafted Rojeski to serve in Vietnam for the next two years. Once he returned home, he met wife Hallie at Northern Illinois while beginning his senior year of college there.

“I was a county attorney for several years,” Rojeski said. “I had a variety of practices both governmental and private. I was actually in law school when Hallie and I met and we were married during my final year of law school. That was upon my return from Vietnam.”

He worked in the legal division for the Nebraska Department of Revenue for a few years before they moved to Grant, Nebraska
where he entered private law practice.

Donn Rojeski discusses his interests and life before teaching at FC.

As an avid sports fan, Rojeski is a Nebraska Cornhusker and follows football as well as volleyball. He is a fan of the Golden State Warriors, Denver Broncos, and has been a fan of the San Francisco Giants since the team was based in New York.

Over the years, Rojeski has developed a broad range of favorites, from vacation spots to entertainment. In terms of food, Rojeski enjoys the prime rib served rare at Black Angus steakhouse. However, Rojeski also likes the taste of Mexican food. A few of his favorite restaurants include what once was El Toro Tambien, but is now Casa Corona. He also enjoys eating at Bobby Salazars located in Selma.

During the Christmas season, one of Rojeski’s favorite things to do is watch Christmas films. Rojeski enjoys the classics in addition to the Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel. In regards to television, Rojeski watches the show So You Think You Can Dance. He finds himself in awe at how advanced the kids become throughout the show. In addition to this, Rojeski also appreciates how so many of them end up teaching others on Dancing With the Stars.

“I’m a strange bird in that respect,” Rojeski said. “Probably my all time favorite TV program, and it’s one of these periodic things, So You Think You Can Dance. I am absolutely in awe of the young people that come in from diverse backgrounds and have that form of expression.

“I can’t say I enjoy all of those forms of dancing, particularly,” Rojeski continued. “I have great appreciation for it though and how those kids are stretched. Then watching several of them show up on Dancing With the Stars teaching others, I am just thrilled by that.”

When going on vacation, Rojeski’s first choice is usually in the mountains. He loves visiting Yellowstone National Park and Teton County and one day hopes to visit Israel with his wife. Rojeski plans on taking a trip to Colorado this upcoming summer to visit his sister and her husband.

Donn Rojeski discusses the impact that the Vietnam War had on him.

In Rojeski’s opinion, what sets him apart from others is the fact that he’s a philosopher at heart. He also finds himself fascinated by relationships between people and how they think. This results from Rojeski becoming a natural observer who finds interest in others.

Sophomore Bryson Graham appreciated how laid back Rojeski’s class was and how he chose to discuss topics with them.

“I like his teaching style,” Graham said. “Mr. Rojeski was always laid back and he wasn’t that strict. I like how he sat down to talk with us and how he went more in depth with the things he was teaching.”

Hallie enjoys getting to teach at the same school as her husband because he gets to know a little bit more about her world. She also loves how steady Rojeski is and how level he seems to feel.

It’s fun because he knows a lot more about my world than he ever did before,” Hallie said. “We can talk about what we’re doing and it’s really nice. He’s pretty even-keeled, he doesn’t get upset too easily or get down to much, he’s just pretty level even when I get a little frustrated, it works pretty well.”

This year, Rojeski moved from teaching the Old and New Testament Bible classes to focusing on classes for the international students. Rojeski enjoys the challenge of figuring out how to reach the students despite the apparent language barrier. One of these challenges included avoiding films and lectures because of the vocabulary needed to make them effective.

After five years of teaching at Fresno Christian, Rojeski has been able to move on to the next chapter in his life. This new experience comes after fighting for America in Vietnam and working for justice in Grant, Nebraska. Now, as a Bible teacher, Rojeski still finds ways to serve the community through his teaching.

Rojeski can be reached via e-mail: [email protected].

For more articles read Teen struggles: The fear of failure and Camp Fire destroys City of Paradise, community rallies in support.

Kyle Clem can be reached via Twitter: @KyleClem5 and via email.

Donn Rojeski

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Mr. Rojeski