Subsquatch: The man behind the myth
Brent Harring spends a lot of his time subbing at schools in South Minneapolis. However, he is most famous for his indelible belief and passion for the research and discovery of sasquatches. “People don’t know how serious I am about the subject, people may think it’s casual or somewhat of a joke, but they don’t know how much time I’ve spent on the subject,” said Harring.
Brent Harring is a substitute teacher at South, most commonly known as ‘Subsquatch.’ While Harring has been a long time sub in MPS, he primarily identifies with the part of his character that includes the discovery and observation of ‘sasquatches,’ or ‘Bigfoot.’ “He really likes ‘Bigfoot,’ like a lot,” said sophomore, Kevin Powers.
Harring lived his early life in North Dakota and attended college at St. Olaf. College which brought him to Minnesota, where he has spent most of his life since then. He went to graduate school at Mankato State University where he majored in experimental education, which led him to his first career as an Outward Bound instructor.
This is what initially got him involved in the outdoor learning industry, which he is still involved in today. “I was a field instructor, I worked in MN programs, I had the opportunity to sea kayak Isle Royale, portage the Grand Portage, and I did a lot of rock climbing on the early sites on North Shore,” said Harring.
Harring stays involved with this through his career at the Roseville REI, an outdoor retailer, but he also tries to camp as much as he can. One of his experiences camping led him to his most memorable encounter with a sasquatch. Harring had decided to camp in the Blue Mountains in Washington after a ‘sasquatch conference’ of sorts, where he met a role model who was well known among Bigfoot searchers.
This area is rich in Bigfoot encounters, so Harring was hoping to get lucky that night with a sighting. Unfortunately, another family was camping at the sight, so he couldn’t do anything to increase the likelihood of an encounter. “I camped as far away from them as I could, and I was kind of bummed out because that meant I couldn’t do any vocal mimicking and any other behavior to provoke an encounter because I didn’t want to freak out my neighbors,” explained Harring.
He heard several ‘woodknocks’ (a sound made by a sasquatch), becoming increasingly close to him, his most exciting near encounter. “What’s so profound is that I wasn’t really doing anything to try to provoke an encounter,” said Harring.
Harring is unique in many ways, not only his interest in sasquatch, but also including his involvement in the puppet scene; working with places like Heart of the Beast. “I do some grand writing in the theater scene so I’m involved in the puppet scene… that makes me pretty darn unique,” said Harring.
South is the school that has introduced him to the nickname ‘subsquatch’ which he is proud to be known as and uphold the character behind this name. “Everyone kind of knows I kind of hone this persona that I’ve been given at South High School, this persona of ‘Subsquatch’ because of my interest in sasquatches,” said Harring.
Harring later adds that he sometimes feels students take him and his work in the field of learning about sasquatch as a joke, when it is really something he is very passionate about. “I like and embrace having the persona of Subsquatch, but people don’t know I think how serious I am about the subject, people may think it’s casual, or somewhat of a joke, but they don’t know how much time I’ve spent on the subject,” said Harring.
Many students have a joking attitude when discussing Harring, similar to what Harring had perceived of his relationships with students. “I think some people like having him because you can get him to talk about sasquatches and some people don’t like having him because you can just get him to talk about sasquatches,” said senior, Krishnan Kutty.
“One of the sad things about being a substitute teacher is that you don’t really get the same chance to make the teacher-student relationships,” said Harring. Despite this, he has been able to develop relationships with some students. “I love Mr Harring, he’s one of my favorite substitute teachers. He’s an interesting dude, and actually pretty nice once you get to know him,” said Kutty.
Harring has a lot more to his identity than students may know. “I know he believes in Bigfoot, other than that, he’s kind of a mystery,” said Powers. “He brings intrigue, adventure, and mystery to South,” Kutty added.
Harring had a close encounter with Bigfoot, “I camped as far away from them as I could, and I was kind of bummed out because that meant I couldn’t do any vocal mimicking and any other behavior to provoke an encounter because I didn’t want to freak out my neighbors,” explained Harring. He heard several ‘woodknocks’ (a sound made by a sasquatch), becoming increasingly close to him, his most exciting near encounter. “What’s so profound is that I wasn’t really doing anything to try to provoke an encounter,” said Harring.
“Lately I’ve been helping out the Vice Principals so I’ve been in the hallways and that’s a really different environment and a lot of people are really surprised to see me out there. They have a lot more friendly, casual way of saying ‘hi’ to me,” said Harring. This is different because of the usual relationships kids have with substitutes. “I don’t know him that well because he’s just a sub,” said Powers.
Not only does Harring sub for teachers all around South and has helped the security team, but has spent a lot of time as a long-term sub for various teachers. He was a substitute for a sophomore english class earlier this year, after English teacher Darin Doty was removed from South. “It was a crazy time when he subbed for us, but he handled it pretty well,” said Powers.
This was not his only experience as a long-term substitute, though. “In Freshman year, one of my teachers went on paternity leave, so I had Mr. Harring for three whole months. It was very interesting, we got so much done in geometry, I learned so much from him about sasquatches and not geometry,” joked Kutty.
Students are fairly fond of Subsquatch, and have had many experiences with him. “I think he’s very fun and interesting and a nice change of pace from the usual subs we get… I was at Pizza Lucé one time and he was there. I didn’t say ‘hi,’ it looked like he was having fun at the bar with a bunch of other people enthralled by his stories,” said Kutty.
South is unique from other schools in Harring’s experience. “It’s one of my great stories I love to tell my friends outside of MPS, that I have been dubbed ‘Subsquatch’ by students at South High School,” said Harring.
Ellie Barnett-Cashman is a senior at South High School starting her third year on the Southerner. Barnett-Cashman spent her first year on the team as a...
