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by Shelbi Merchant staff writer

Before teaching at Central, our beloved crime and justice teacher Jeffrey Glikman had a more than interesting background–one that has proven time and time again just how prominent it is in his everyday life.

Glikman grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood, where he witnessed many of his classmates either drop out, join gangs, or lose their lives due to gang violence. “I am a product of [my family’s] efforts,” Glikman says. He credits both his family and his mentors for keeping him out of that lifestyle, and he always wanted to repay one mentor in particular for his support. He advised Glikman to do something that would serve his community. “And really, teaching was the thing that made the most sense to honor the support that people had given me along the way.”

After deciding to become a teacher and getting his education, Glikman’s first teaching job was in a South American prison. His goal was to prepare the prisoners for everyday life by teaching them basic skills and the importance of being a good member of society. “We had a philosophy,” Glikman describes. “Break them down, build them up.” He and his fellow teachers would enforce the idea that their criminal behaviors were unacceptable and would not be condoned in any way, shape or form. They would utilize all outside material to their advantage: judges, probation officers, other gang members, anything they could think of to decipher what different push factors were holding their students back. From there, Glikman would prepare them for life on the outside while having his students’ back throughout the entire process, whether it was a tattoo removal or equipping prisoners with the right materials and mindset for a future job interview.

After working in the South American prison, Glikman worked in the jungle for two months, right on the border of Ecuador and Columbia, where he taught English, world history and geography. There had been a civil war raging just out- side the border, and Glikman witnessed several of his students forcibly join the army to fight for their country. ¨They were at the mercy of their world,” Glikman expresses.

Glikman then spent ten years working at a continuation school where most of his students were either gang members or in the court system before joining our staff here at CHS in 2015. He described the transition to be difficult, as his previous teaching methods did not formulate positive results here. “I’m not calling probation officers or talking with fellow gang members to try and motivate people,” Glikman explains, “But it’s also made me better. I’ve leaned on some incredible teachers and principals here, and I’ve really tried to blend all my experiences and skills working here at CHS into what I’m able to do in the classroom.”

Glikman is a well-liked teacher among the student body. “He will actually talk to you like you are human,” Lani Roberts ‘25 shares. “He’ll ask you about your hobbies or how your weekends were.”

One of Glikman’s most popular courses that he teaches is his Crime and Justice class, which expanded from a nine week course into a semester long one. “It’s been pretty life changing just in the three weeks I’ve been there in his class,” Roberts reveals. “[His class] showed me how fortunate I am to live in Traverse City.”

At the end of the day, Glikman counts his experiences as blessings despite the difficulties he faced early on in his career.“I think more than anything, I consider myself deeply fortunate for a lot of opportunities,“ Glikman reflects. “So seeing a lot of those things really has taught me to take a step back and look at the kid as a whole kid, and not just a student in my class and use what they’re going through as a motivator…as I try to support my students in the class but also navigate life elsewhere.” //