Interview Transcript

When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?
I have always had two dreams for my career…One, to be a Television News Anchor and the other to be a teacher. When I was in college I had to decide which I wanted to do and determined that being a TV News Anchor could force me to live further away from my family than I wanted. So, I went for my other dream, to be a teacher. I had thought I would become an English teacher, but after really thinking about the classes that I most enjoyed in high school, I realized that Government, Psychology, and Sociology were my favorites. So, I decided to go into social studies (I still do not really enjoy history though). Today, I still sometimes wish I would have become a News Anchor, but most of the time I LOVE my job as a teacher. I always knew that I wanted to work with high school students too, not elementary. Many people think that is odd and that I would be better suited to elementary aged students. But, I know that I do not have enough patience to deal with elementary!

What college did you go to and what was your major?
I went to Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. I majored in Social Studies Education, with an emphasis on Political Science. I also have a master’s degree from Saint Mary’s University. The Master’s is in Teaching and Learning.

How many different schools have you taught at? Which was your favorite?
I first taught in New Ulm, MN at the high school. I was only there for one year (it was my choice to leave). Then I taught at White Bear Lake High School, South Campus (just 11th and 12th grades). I taught in WBL for 2 years and was let go due to budget cuts. Finally, I came to Princeton High School. I am in the middle of my 8th year at Princeton. Favorite…hmm…Not New Ulm. I really liked teaching in WBL, but I also like Princeton. I like both for different reasons. I’m not sure I could pick a favorite between the two!

How did working at PHS through ARCC come along?
My first year in Princeton I began teaching 9th grade and 11th grade. Half way through the year one of our senior teachers (he was my Gov’t & Psych teacher when I was in high school) was assigned an administrative position that he moved into in January. Due to this someone needed to take over his classes (he taught the concurrent enrollment classes at PHS…College Psych & College Gov’t.). At the time, there was no member of our department that was qualified to actually teach these classes. He, however, felt that I would be the best fit and no one else wanted to take on these classes (everyone else enjoys history and would rather not teach Psych and Gov’t). He then got the requirements waived as long as I started taking classes to fulfill the requirements to teach concurrent enrollment classes. He then worked as my mentor while I began teaching these classes half way through the year. I also started working on my Master’s degree so that I could actually qualify to teach the classes.

What is your least favorite part of teaching college courses at High School?
I do not like that I am somewhat separate from my department members. No one else teaches the classes that I teach, so I do not have anyone to get ideas from or share experiences with. For example, at the current time my department is working on writing up new course outlines and everyone is able to work with at least one other person on this, except for me. I also do not really like that I have to be observed more than my colleagues. I get very nervous when I am observed by other adults and I have to get observed by my mentors at ARCC in each of the areas that I teach a coup le times a year. The observations always go very well, so I am not sure why I get so nervous…I guess it is just my personality (high anxiety)!!!

What is your favorite?
I love that I get to work with the “high flyers” at the high school. I get the students that are more academically minded. I very rarely have any behavior issues. I also do not have to attend many IEP meetings (special education). My students are the best in the school and I love working with them!

What college courses are you teaching right now?
At the current time I am just teaching two College Government courses (American Politics & Government POLS 1111). I will begin teaching College Psychology next trimester too (General Psychology PSYC 1110).

About how many students are taking the college classes through high school?
In College Government I have a total of 44 students at the current time between the two classes. In college psych I will have a total of 50 students in Psych. Those students overlap quite a bit, as you know though.

Have you ever considered being a professor on a college campus?
Not at this point in my life. One of my Mentors from ARCC tried to convince me that being a professor would be better for my family and me. However, I just have no interest in being a professor. I love working with high school students and I love the community that you get at a high school. I enjoy all the fun things that happen in a high school (homecoming, pepfests…). I also love working with seniors. They are always so excited to be seniors, but nervous to move on to the next step in their lives. I like to think that I help students through this process. I also do not think that I could be serious enough to be a professor, maybe this is a stereotype? I like doing silly things in class and like doing fun activities. I had one mentor for College Gov’t that was always jealous of the fact that I had time to do fun activities like the Supreme Court simulation. He said he just wouldn’t be able to fit that into his schedule.

What would be some pros and con’s of moving to a college campus?
Pros: more serious students, fewer interruptions to the classroom, more time to spend with my family, more time to prep for the classes that I teach

Cons: older students, more serious…maybe I’ll come up with more later



Where do you see yourself with your career in 5 years?
In 5 years I think I will still be teaching at the high school. I will probably be back to working full time (at the current time I work just .67 of a full time schedule – I do this to spend more time with my family and take my daughter to her medical and therapy appointments). I will probably be teaching both college and regular high school classes. I hope to move more in the direction of teaching teachers best practice methods as well (just teachers in the Princeton district).

Ten years?
10 years from now (well I’ll be old ;-)). Probably some of the same…I would like to have taken more psychology courses, maybe have a master’s degree in psychology or working towards a masters in psych at least. Continuing to try to be the best teacher I can be. Maybe one day I will move to a college campus or maybe move into becoming a high school counselor? Or the other route would be to work in the political Science field. Maybe I will run for office sometime? Who knows? The future is open to many new and exciting things!