Daniel Clasen is an Algebra I teacher here at Pahrump Valley High School and is a junior varsity soccer coach for the girl’s soccer team. He was asked some questions about his past, present, and future.

 Mr. Clasen was born in Bakersfield, California. He has lived here in Pahrump, Nevada for most of his life. Mr. Clasen was asked what his dream occupation was when he was younger. He stated “When I was younger, I really wanted to be a physical therapist. I thought it would be so cool to work on athletes and help them recover from their injuries and get back to doing what they love.” 

Mr. Clasen went to college at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona and he finished up his degree at Great Basin College here in Pahrump, Nevada. Since Mr. Clasen’s dream job as a child was to be a physical therapist, he was asked how he ended up as a teacher. He stated “I didn’t know what I wanted to do honestly,  and I realized after my first day of being a substitute teacher, that I wanted to be a teacher. I fell in love with it the first day, so I started doing that, and then I became a teacher.” Mr. Clasen was asked what his favorite thing about being a teacher was. He said, “Helping kids who are struggling to make that breakthrough, and learn a topic they did not know before.” 

A lot of people know Mr. Clasen as the girl’s JV soccer coach here at PVHS. Mr. Clasen was asked how he got into soccer, and this is what he said “I got into soccer because I had done it my whole life. My parents put me in it to just keep me active I think. I was a pretty active kid but I fell in love with it and played it my whole life. Then I started coaching.”  His favorite thing about being a coach is, “Getting to just help kids become better at something they like to do.” 

Mr. Clasen was asked if he has any future plans for coaching or his career. He stated, “I’d like to become the first astronaut teacher honestly, so I’d like to go into space and teach the aliens different techniques to learn Algebra I.” 

Mr. Clasen loves to stay active, which is one of the main things you can catch him doing in his free time. He also loves collecting old VHS movies, and you can also find him eating french fries, it’s his favorite food. He said, “I love french fries, McDonald’s french fries, in particular, are the best, but any kind of french fry.” 

Since Mr. Clasen coaches soccer, it was only right if I asked him what his favorite sports teams were. Mr. Clasen stated “My favorite basketball team is the Phoenix Suns; they are the best basketball team in the world. I like the Dodgers as well. I don’t have a favorite football team, or soccer team though.” If you stop by Mr. Clasen’s classroom, he has posters up on his wall of the Phoenix Suns basketball team. 

Mr. Clasen is a fun, upbeat, and encouraging person who loves his students, and his team.