It is a year of firsts for our newest teacher, Craig Mast. Along with being Craig’s first year at Bethany, this will also be his first year in a private school setting, teaching Spanish, and being an assistant soccer coach.
Prior to this year, Craig taught German at Goshen High School. His German background extends back into high school at Central Christian in 
Ohio, where he took classes in German and then into his years at Goshen College where he participated in their SST program in Germany.
Originally, Craig went to Hesston college for his first two years of college where he roomed with high school friend and current Bethany boys soccer coach Mark Yoder. At Hesston, Craig took his first formal Spanish classes, since they do not have a German program.
Craig also played soccer at the collegiate level for Hesston and Goshen. He was told as a junior transferring to Goshen that all the players were growing out their hair in order that they could cut them into mullets for the first game of the season. However, it was all a hoax and instead, Craig ended up with an afro.
Upon transferring to Goshen, Craig majored in history, which is where he started to develop a friendship with fellow history student and now colleague, Josh Weaver. There were only 8 history majors during that time, so they could not avoid being put together for projects and classes.
After graduating, Craig went to seminary for half a year, until deciding that the rigors of church history were not for him. He was then a substitute a teacher at Goshen High School, while he tried to figure out where he wanted his life to go. While at Goshen he connected with the Hispanic students but he realized his Spanish wasn’t as good as he knew it could be.
It was then that Craig and his wife Krista moved to Paraguay for a year and taught English night classes while also absorbing the language and the culture. However, when they returned to the states, he taught German at Goshen High School.
In February  2012, Craig received an offer to be the assistant soccer coach at Bethany from high school and college teammate Mark Yoder. Craig accepted immediately, though still planning to continue teaching German at Goshen. Later that year, the departure of Marcelo Warkentein left the spanish position open at Bethany and Craig was offered the job. With his improved Spanish, and plenty of practice while conversing with the Hispanics at Goshen, Craig accepted the job at the school he would also be coaching for.
That brings us up to date, where Craig has hit the ground running at Bethany. It seems that students have taken a liking to him and he relates well to the students. Frequently Craig can be seen hanging out with his classroom neighbor, Josh Weaver, where they discuss various topics.
Craig, his wife Krista and daughter Anna live in Goshen and attend East Goshen Mennonite.
~Caleb Morris