While walking through the halls at Edmond Memorial High School, students will likely notice the new classrooms, ongoing construction, and fresh faces around the building. Not only is the class of 2026 now sporting the maroon and gray, but there are some new teachers as well. One of the new faculty members this year is Government, Oklahoma History and Debate teacher: Elias Wolfe.

Before he started teaching, Wolfe had a career as a parole and probation officer in Alaska as well as a police officer in Montana. After having a career in law enforcement for around 20 years, he began his new career of teaching last year at Independence Charter Middle School in Oklahoma City.

This is Wolfe’s second year teaching, and he is looking forward to meeting and impacting the educational journeys of his students.

“An exciting thing to me is being able to use information that’s been passed on to me in ways of teaching…and passing it forward,” Wolfe said. “Then, maybe, when those students become parents or teachers, they’ll be able to do the same thing.”

Since Wolfe is teaching three different courses, he juggles many daily lesson plans. While planning multiple curriculums has proven to be difficult, his optimistic attitude shows that he is up to the challenge.

“Right now it’s incredibly fast-paced,” Wolfe said. “I would say it’s challenging right now, but once I get my sea legs I’ll be okay.”

One of Wolfe’s many roles at Memorial is the Head Debate Team Coach. He was a part of speech and debate when he was in high school, and is excited to play a part in the next generation of debate.

Wolfe has two daughters. His oldest just graduated from high school and his youngest daughter is a sophomore. Because of his children, Wolfe has a deeper understanding of what his students are going through.

“I am also going to learn from students, just like I hope they learn from me,” Wolfe said.

It is evident that Wolfe cares about his students and is thrilled to be teaching at Memorial.

Contact Kelsi Seltenreich at [email protected]