Back on his feet

Most people would love to take a semester off.

Spending time at home, watching television and catching up on sleep sounds so much more relaxing and is a favorable way to spend time off. However, Paul Loskot couldn’t wait to be back at work and in his classroom after his long time away during the fall semester.

The weekend before the first day of school, Loskot was trimming trees in order to keep his roof in pristine shape. Little did he know, one misstep would land him in the hospital and out of school for an entire semester.

Loskot missed a step on the ladder, taking a tumble and hitting the ground. His wife was outside and saw the accident. Understandably, she was upset, thinking he had “fallen to his death and had a nervous breakdown right there.”

So, Loskot called his daughter from across the street. He told her, “Hey honey, I just fell off a ladder and your mom isn’t doing too well. Could you come bring her a water and call the hospital?”

She quickly understood and called 911. The ambulance arrived only a short time later. Loskot demonstrated the standard procedure of wiggling his fingers and toes, however he was unable to move his hips at all. So the paramedics put him onto an immobilizing gurney and he was taken to the hospital. 

X-Rays that were taken showed he had completely bent his femur. Since he needed surgery involving his hips and leg at the same time, United Regional was unable to perform the surgery. Loskot then was transported in a helicopter to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. They operated and inserted screws in his hips and his left femur. His femur also had a long titanium rod. 

Loskot was lucky to have only hurt his leg and hips, as the fall was a very long one with a hard impact. He was out the entire first semester, and had no way of knowing any incident like this could’ve happened.

“There weren’t any substitute preparations or anything like that,” Loskot said. “It was just, ‘He’s not here.’”

Led by Taleigha Murray, who Loskot is especially grateful toward, the WFISD math department stepped up. Murray, along with other staff members, took over Loskot’s classes and made sure they had work and were able to learn, instead of falling behind due to the absence of both their teacher and his substitute plans.

“I was really appreciative because I was not in any condition to try and do any of that,” Loskot said.

Loskot missed being at school because he enjoys the interaction and relationships he builds with his students. Even though paperwork and discipline aren’t any fun, the kids he teaches are what Loskot enjoys the most about his job.

“I don’t think any teacher loves all the paperwork and all administrative stuff , but you have to deal with all of that if you’re a real teacher,” Loskot said. “And I wanted to come back and help those kids that didn’t pass the EOC test.”

Loskot’s desire to help the students who didn’t pass the EOC provides him with a unique way of teaching. He takes the data of those students and uses it in order to teach them the topics they don’t know. Loskot takes their weaknesses and turns them into strengths.

“Like why spend all of our time doing things that they already know?” Loskot said. “Let’s teach them some things they don’t know and maybe that will help them pass the EOC this time.”

Loskot is back and eager to continue the rest of the school year while building relationships with his students in order to help them be successful. He has been practicing with his cane so he can move around and use the one-on-one interaction with any student that struggles with a problem.

Hopefully, the only helicopter rides Loskot goes on in the future will be for fun and sightseeing, not because of injury.