A substitute teacher with a Santa-eque beard and figure sits at a desk in a quiet classroom lined in French-language posters on the walls. He pauses working to answer some questions. 

Charles Wood previously taught Zoological Illustration and Botanical Illustration at the University of Washington Extension, among other courses. He was also a teacher for Human and Animal Anatomy at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA.

“At the University of Washington, I designed [created and organized] a scientific illustration program,” Wood said. “And I taught four of the seven classes. Of the classes I taught Botanical Illustration, Wildlife Drawing, Vertebrae Illustration, and Professional Production and Presentation of Art.” 

Wood favored his time at the University. Wood also smiles back at his time at the previously mentioned DigiPen Institute, which he agreed was “fun”.

“I taught for nine years [at DigiPen],” Wood said. “I taught Video Game anatomy for Big Monsters, [and] Human Anatomy.”

Wood’s enthusiasm for drawing animal anatomy led him to co-writing a book titled “An Atlas of Primate Gross Anatomy: Baboon, Chimpanzee, and Man,” which was named one of the “50 Best Books of the Year in the United States” sometime in the mid-1970’s, Wood made a pensive face has he thought of the exact award year. 

“It [the book] also won the Washington State Governor’s Award for the Best Book in the State of Washington.” Wood said.

Before living in Washington, Wood lived in Michigan through his years in college. Around this time, his dad worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. Wood’s voice gets thin as he brings it up.

“They both [Dad and Martin Luther King, Jr] went to Crozer Theological Seminary back East and got their minister degree,” Wood said. “They’re pacifists [who] solve problems with love [and] reason and not with force [or] might.”

Wood remembers when Dr. King would come to the family house while the Detroit Civil Rights March was being organized. Around that time, Wood had been playing basketball for his school and recollects an “embarrassing” experience from then. 

“I went over to the playground to play pick-up basketball ‘cause I liked doing that,” Wood said. “And the person that was a head of the playground, this Black lady, came running up to me and said ‘You got to get off this playground, there’s a riot starting here [with those people at the end of the playground].’

And I looked over there and said ‘Looks like four baseball teams, you can’t play with four – wait a minute, there’s no gloves, no ball, they all got bats [every ‘player’],” Wood said. “They were looking for white people to beat. I ran toward them and then off to the side and I got hit and got knocked to the ground by the fence.”

Nowadays, things are a little more laid-back for Wood, like coming home to an old Siamese cat who complains about not having a lap to sleep on. CK office worker and acquaintance of Wood, Jeri Poplin, recalls something she learned about Wood from a laid-back conversation they had. 

“He dresses up like Santa Claus, ‘cause he looks like Santa Claus,” Poplin said. “At Christmastime, he said that there was a family, he didn’t hire himself out, but there was one family [that he got word somehow] that needed a Santa Claus to go to their family Christmas party and he’s been doing it for 12 years.” 

A common trait with Santa Claus that Wood considers himself to be is “friendly,”. Poplin describes another trait, Wood’s reliability. 

“He’s reliable in the fact that he definitely will pick up sub jobs,” Poplin said. “He shows up and if we need somebody in a crunch, sometimes we can call him and he’ll cancel his plans and come in and sub for us.”

Poplin said that Wood’s impromptu sub jobs have happened a couple times this year. Another office worker, Susan Hicks, figures that CK is probably the only school he likes subbing at, which Wood confirmed with a smile.

“He’s consistent, he’s a nice person,” Hicks said. 

Wood has come in about once or twice a week. Based on the conversations Hicks has had with him, she would describe him as “interesting to talk to.”

“Fascinating,” Hicks said. “He’s an interesting, fascinating person.”