VOICES
New Teacher Profiles
September 15, 2017 | ISSUE 8
By Yuyao Zhu
This year, our school has three new teachers. Ms. Lara said, “Our school had some teachers leave last year, so the school has to have some new teachers. Also, the school wanted to give students additional support on PBAT and Personal Statement, so the school created some new classes for students, such as College 101 and Computer Science.”
The new teachers are Ms. Jillian - the Media Arts teacher for 12th grade and the Computer Skills teacher for 9th & 10th grades, Ms. Park - the Chemistry teacher for 12th grade, and Ms. Roxie - the ELA teacher for 12th grade. We interviewed these three new teachers so students will have a chance to know more about them.
Ms. Jillian is from Greencastle, PA. She is very excited to be a new teacher in FIHS and she thinks this school is an important environment for her. She wants to be a teacher because she had really good teachers before and she wants to become that kind of people to others. Before, teaching, she worked a lot as an artist, so she also wants to teach other people art skills. She said, “If I am not being a teacher, I would like to be an artist and make art, make art for myself.“ Before she had many different jobs ---- Painter, Sculptor, Restaurant Manager, and Bartender ---- but was never a teacher. Therefore, she meets some challenges. Such as, students have different levels of English, so it may be hard meet different students needs. After school, she is always planning lessons and grading works to prepare her classes. However, when she has free time, she likes to make art, watch shows, go to museums, and read books, especially novels. Ms. Jillian graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Fine Art Degree, and a Master’s degree from the Pratt Institute. She recommended these colleges to students interested in art, fashion, and architecture.
“Ms. Jillian is a very patient teacher. She always teaches students one by one in her class, when we have questions, she always answer them, and explain to us. She is very positive, loves to smile, and having lots of energy” said Bridges student Amber. “Ms. Jillian is very talented, she is not just a media teacher. Ms. Jillian is an artist who can also work on and teach visual art; she knows how to use technology such as photographing, making website, use photoshop, etc; also, she knows how to play piano and trumpet, and play it very well” adds senior Andrew Xie.
Ms. Park is from South Korea, and she came to the U.S in 2003. She has never been a teacher before our school. She loves the school because she does many projects with her students, the students are nice, and the staff is supportive and friendly. She is good at science, and she wants to help students. If she was not a teacher, she wants to be a researcher. However, there are still some challenges when Ms. Park teaches students, like students being from different countries, and they speak different languages and have different cultures, so maybe it is hard to adapt. Therefore, she always spends a lot of time on planning lessons to be more prepared for her classes. “If I have free time, I would like to spend time with family and friends.” said Ms. Park,who graduated from Hofstra University, and finished her undergraduate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She loves her college, and she recommend this college to whoever wants to study science, engineering, and architecture.
“I feel that Ms. Park is a really fun teacher. I do not have any complaints with her. She does really well because she explains thing very clearly. I think she is one of the best new teacher in the school now” said 12th grade student Jose. “I feel thankful to have her in my team because she is really kind, and also cool, especially with us. Her class is fun because we always do different stuff and experiment that interested us and keep us focus while learning” added Joshua from team Bridges.
Ms. Roxie is from Downtown Manhattan, and now she is living in Queens. When she was in college, she taught adult English. She was a teacher in Bronx International High School for 5 years where she taught 11th & 12th graders English. Last year, She taught little kids English in a private school in Mexico City. If she is not being a teacher, she wants to travel around the world. Being a new teacher in this school, she feels comfortable to share ideas. She thinks that she is learning things from other teachers and students, and she loves our school. She wants to be a teacher because when she was little, she liked to teach others. She went to traditional school when she was young. That school focused on teachers, and was boring. She does not want to be boring, and teach students in a creative changes. She still has 2 types of challenges when she teaches, students comes from different background, so they have different level of reading and writing in English, and also, things are happening outside the school, like family problems, may affect their study in school. I asked Ms. Roxie what suggestions she can give to students. Ms. Roxie said: “I went to Tufts University. It is not too big and not too small. The professors there are very nice, and now I still can ask them questions. When students choose their college, it is important to think about they want to leave NY or not. They can visit colleges before they go, listen to some classes that they interested in, and think about the cost.”
“I think that as a new teacher, Ms. Roxie does very well. She is very patient because every time there are many students ask her questions or need her help. She would answer one by one, and not miss any students. And when sending her emails, she always responds promptly” said 12th grader Greta. “Ms. Roxie is my mentor. I think Ms. Roxie is attentive, and careful. She makes plan for us on how we can write our PBAT and work. Also, she gives many useful feedback” adds Harrison from the 11th grade.
Therefore, they are all nice teachers, and they are really helpful to our school and students. If you guys have problems, you can go to ask them. They will be enthusiastic to answer your questions.