It’s not common knowledge to every student and some of you may be surprised when you hear that a teacher has tattoos. But hey, teachers are cool too! In fact, a good number of teachers and faculty have one or more tats, though we have not found anyone with RFTB branded on their body yet. (If you have any leads let us know promptly).

Anyways, tattoos are common. Tattoos, in the public eye, have in past years raised eyebrows and left bad impressions on general society. However, recently they seem to be more common and are deemed normal.

SJHHS Principal Tom Ressler said he is unaware of any policy forcing teachers to hide their tattoos.

“I think just common sense, and professionalism with, say, if there are things that are offensive to people you have to cover (that) up”, said Ressler.

Ressler believes that tattoos are such a common thing that he has never really given it much thought and doesn’t seem to have a problem with a decent tattoo in an appropriate spot being shown off.

So with that cleared up, we talked to some teachers about their tattoos.

The first person we talked to isn’t a teacher, but everyone knows her and loves saying hello as she drives by on her golf cart on campus. Proctor Kim Jensen is a huge Steelers fan and said she always talked about getting a Steelers tattoo to represent her and her dad’s favorite team.

“I have great memories of my dad watching the Steelers and me picking up the football bug,” said Jensen.

Her husband gave her a gift card for Christmas three years ago to get the tattoo done. She has the Steelers’ logo on her right ankle. She will always carry around the memories of her dad and her commitment to the team.

AP Euro and World History teacher Mr Spiers has three tattoos. One says “Mum and Dad”, one says “Do or Die”, and the other has his name, Robert. Being in his words the bad boy of his hometown Belfast, Ireland he first got his first tattoos at the young age of thirteen at a parlor right next to a prison. His Father was obviously unhappy, and he recalls his Dad chasing him around and punishing him for getting one. young Mr. Spiers proceeded to get two more against his wishes.

“Tattoos are about self expression, if you want to express yourself its a way. (Like) the clothes you wear the hair you have. Tattoos are just another form of self expression. But they are pretty permanent. I would say, hold off, if you can. Think about it. Pick which tattoos you want. Do they have significance? Do they have meaning in your life? Mine really didn’t have a huge amount of significance. It was getting the tattoo was significant, right? Not maybe the content of it. But you know, wait. If thats what you want to do, great, knock yourself out. but remember, you’re the one who’s got to wear it for the rest of your life. no one else has got to wear it. You have to.” Said Mr. Spiers for advice for any kids that are thinking about getting a tattoo in high school.

We were also able to talk to Micah Ohlen, the new athletic trainer. Ohlen is from Kauai and came to the mainland for college. Upon his return he decided to get a tattoo. He said that he thought about what he was going to get, whether it was just going to be his island or the whole chain, but he finally settled for the whole set of Hawaiian Islands.

“I wanted to represent all of Hawaii, I thought it would be a good first tattoo to get…Getting a tattoo was kind of like a stamp of pride on my back and it kind of always reminded me of where I came from,” said Ohlen.

Ohlen wears his tattoo with pride and willingly shows it to anyone who asks. It is a great symbol to carry.

However, some teachers don’t carry such prideful stamps. Some have what is known as “a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.”

A teacher who prefered to remain anonymous, but believed his story was a good lesson for students, had a lapse of thinking for one tattoo. In college, this teacher had his girlfriend’s name tattooed on his thigh. He thought they were in for the long haul, but unfortunately he was wrong and had to get it covered up.

Teacher and surf coach Nate Roberts is perhaps the most notorious for hiding his tattoos. Roberts has plenty of ink on his body but would rather keep it under wraps. He has a moustache tattooed on his finger, a nautical themed tattoo on his chest, a ship at sea in remembrance of a hectic surf trip, a music and family sleeve on his right arm, a hula girl in honor of his brothers in Hawaii, and many more.

“Each one has some significance in my life or meant something to me or my family or some event that has played a significant role in who I am,” said Roberts.

Although he may not flash them, Roberts appears to have the largest multitude of tattoos, all of which have a meaning behind them. Roberts has some authority and offered some advice and words of wisdom on the subject.

“Some of the things I like when I was eighteen I probably wouldn’t have liked when I was an adult. I was thinking about later on in life, I think it was a good decision to wait a few years because you don’t always make the right decisions in high school,” said Roberts regarding teenagers who get tattoos.

It seems as though tattoos are becoming more of an acceptable trend. Tattoos are cool and I believe more teachers should talk about theirs if they have them. They make for great conversation and make class a lot more interesting.

Leave a comment with your thoughts about tattoos, suggest one for a teacher, or tell tell us what you would get if you could get a tattoo now.