Ingraham over 35 Years: Martin Floe

To celebrate Mr. Floe’s upcoming retirement the Cascade sat down with him to discuss beekeeping, pineapple on pizza, and his unwavering commitment to Ingraham High School. Mr. Floe has been connected to Ingraham in some form or fashion almost his entire life, first as a student, then as Ingraham’s band director, Ingraham’s vice principal, and finally as our principal. This interview was conducted before the news that Mr. Floe will be replaced by the current Assistant Principal, Mr. Elvig, was made public. If you want to hear more from Mr. Floe visit his YouTube channel. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve been Ingraham’s principal for 20 years, and before that you taught here, and graduated from high school here. How have you seen the school change over your time here?

I graduated in ‘84, then replaced my high school band director in 1990 and then replaced the assistant principal that I had as a student when they retired, and then I replaced the principal I had as a student as principal. I’ve been here so long, and change is so incremental it’s very difficult. Some of the major changes of course are the use of technology in classrooms. You know when I was a student, when I first started teaching, we didn’t even have phones in the classroom. We didn’t have internet; we didn’t have email. Every day if you wanted to say something to teachers you had to have it copied off and delivered to the classrooms. And so, the largest change is probably technology. And certainly, some of the physical aspects of the building have changed a lot. The new wing out in front here and on the side. But for the most part, it always seems to me small changes, incremental over time.

I heard a rumor that in high school your nickname was “Party Marty” do you have a comment on that? 

That was one of my nicknames, yes. I don’t have a comment on that. I think it’s obviously because I’m a fun-loving person.  

When you were in school what were your favorite and least favorite subjects? What about your favorite or least favorite teachers? 

I was a band kid, and we had an auto shop program here that I enjoyed. Those were the two classes I enjoyed the most. I started out playing trumpet in the band, then switched to tuba and ended up actually majoring in that in college. So those were my two favorite classes. I knew when I was a student that I thought it would be cool to be a band director. 

That’s probably why I went into education, I really enjoyed my teachers. Certainly, I had some I would prefer not to have again. Part of it is the mentality too that if you get along with people it’s easy to like people. I had a number of favorite teachers, some of which I’m still in contact with today. The person I replaced as band director, a couple of history teachers things like that. The unfortunate thing is as I’m nearing retirement I’m getting up in age and many of my mentors and favorite teachers have passed away. 

Do you have any favorite memories of Ingraham’s music program? 

Specifically, I remember winning a competition up in Abbotsford and finding out when we were on the bus and literally everyone just going crazy. I remember at the time I had a penny in my pocket that I called my lucky penny that I kept with me for maybe 20-30 years on my key chain. Also, just the general camaraderie of being in a group like that and making great friends. And also marching in half-time shows, things like that.  

Is there a subject you wish you had been able to teach? 

Part of being the band director is you’re teaching other classes as well, whether it’s jazz band, I even taught some choir, and guitar and piano. It’s funny to think that I ended up teaching a guitar class here and I learned to play guitar in the very same class when I was a high school student. It’s funny how high school actually prepped me for doing what I wanted to do. I enjoy history and CTE courses. I’d love to do auto shop or construction trades, that’s not my specialty, but you know just things I’m interested in.  

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your time as Ingraham’s principal? 

One thing that over time I’m very consistent in saying is not necessarily follow your dreams but the opposite. I like to tell people “Find out what you’re bad at then don’t do it”.  

What are you most proud of from your time as principal? 

Well, the feedback I receive from the community is that it’s a place where people can be themselves and conform in their own ways that they feel work for them. And it’s a place where staff and students generally get along.  

What do you hope will be next for Ingraham? Do you have any insight into possible candidates to be the next principal? 

My whole emphasis this school year is to make sure there’s a seamless transition. My goal is that Ingraham will continue to grow and to continue what we’re doing. Immediately what I want to see is a smooth transition. I wouldn’t be able to comment [on possible candidates] but I know there’s a number of internal candidates meaning in district and possibly in the school as well.  

The district process is that people apply to be in the principal pool and go through a question process and an application. Once they’re in the district pool they can apply to individual jobs. Currently internal candidates, people in the principal pool, can apply. I’m not sure how many exactly have applied but interviews will be in the coming weeks and hopefully we can announce my successor soon after that. A note that since this interview the principal for next year has been confirmed to be current Assistant Principal Mr. Elvig

Has there ever been a time in your life where you lived outside of Seattle? What made you decide to come back? 

Can we call it the Seattle area? I currently reside in Lynnwood. The furthest away I have lived outside of a trip was during college when I went to Western Washington University. Other than that, I have lived within a seven-mile radius of Ingraham high school my whole life. My high school band director was retiring and that was my dream job, and I was selected. That was probably one of the happiest days of my life. 

What plans do you have for your retirement?  

I’m not 100% sure. I don’t have any other job plans or anything like that. This can be a stress-inducing job. It can be tiring. So, part of me just wants to hit pause, relax a little bit, maybe travel, but I don’t have any immediate plans. My wife is currently retired so we’ll both have time to do what we want to do. Hobbies etc. I’m a beekeeper. I like working with bonsai plants, gardening, and spending time up in the San Juan Islands.

Do you get a lot of honey from your bees?

I actually do not harvest any of the honey, I let the bees keep it in case they need it for food over the wintertime. You can probably see me goofing around with them if you go to my YouTube. Martin Floe, YouTube, and I think I have a video of me goofing around with the bees.

What advice would you give to Ingraham’s next principal?

When making decisions make sure to consider the future impacts and not just the immediate. It’s easy to make decisions if you’re only thinking about the immediate and less so when you have to look to the future.

What about an Ingraham student?

Be kind.

What advice do you have about balancing your life outside work with your job?

There’s a superintendent a number of years ago that said take care of yourself because if something happens to you the system will just post and fill the job.

What is your opinion on pineapple on pizza?

I enjoy it. I’ve heard there’s a recent trend now to include oranges, but I haven’t tried that. I enjoy pineapple on pizza and I’m thankful that most places will do a half-and-half pizza.

Is there anything else you want to share?

Well, I’d just like to thank the community for 34 years of support and all those that helped and mentored me along the way. All the people that I spoke about earlier, the teachers and staff, I learned from each one of them. 

Did you read the candyman article?

There’s a story called the candyman story and this is one of my favorite ones. I routinely get in trouble with the district and this is an example. There’s a student teacher in Mr. Ferguson’s classroom, and when he was a Senior here the district had nutrition guidelines that prevented candy from being sold in the vending machines, and he sold candy and donated the money to breast cancer research. The district wanted me to put a stop to it, and I didn’t, and it ended up being another time the people downtown weren’t particularly happy with me.  His first day of being a student teacher here he brought me a candy bar in memory of that. The article ended up on the front page of the local section of the newspaper, it’s quite the hoot. (For those interested in hearing more of this story, Mr. Floe kindly sent me the link to an article the Seattle Times ran about it: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crafty-candyman-a-sweet-sight-at-school-where-treats-are-banned/)