12
N the Red
October 2020
Faculty find their niche New teachers adjust to different school, decorating their classrooms Rebekah Shultz
shultreb000@hsestudents.org
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ourteen new teachers joined the faculty this year and have decorated their classrooms according to their taste. Along with the 100% virtual learning expectations for the beginning of the school year, the new teachers were also adjusting to their new classrooms and new school. “I taught eight years in my other classroom, so I knew where I wanted to stand when I taught,’’ new math teacher Torissa Becksvoort said. “I knew where I wanted to put my papers so I can grab them easier and not lose them, and I have not figured that out yet. I just think it’s just taking a lot longer to get more comfortable in a new place then it would have if we would have just dove in. I would have had it figured out by now.” Along with adjusting to their new environment, teachers have had to decorate their classrooms quickly due to the school board providing teachers only two weeks to prepare for students’ return for 50/50. “When they said you have two weeks [putting up decorations and set up the classroom following COVID-19 procedures] and kids come back is when I started putting stuff on my walls,” Becksvoort said. “Then I panicked and I still have not finished, so it was not a good plan on my own part. I figured the computer was the classroom so I tried to get Canvas pretty before my room was pretty, and it kind of blew up in my face.” Contrary to Becksvoort, new English teacher, Mike Czech has already decorated his room with a specific theme in mind: his favorite bands from when he was in high school. “I want the classroom to reflect some of my interests so my students can get a chance to know me a little bit more, and my interests,” Czech said. Czech plays guitar and also collects vinyls. He has over 2,000 albums, and all the posters in his classrooms were posters he had in his room when he was a high school student. “It [decorating the class with music] also opens space for me to talk about music, which I like to parallel a lot of the literature and the stuff that I’m teaching to music,” Czech said. Art teacher Alyssa Choplin’s classroom was already established because it was set up as an art room before she came, so her decorations are mainly students’ artwork. “Art rooms, by nature, are usually filled with artwork, which makes the space feel creative and inviting,” Choplin said. “[Students’ artwork] makes it feel more personal, for them and for me.” While each new teacher decorates differently and has a different idea for their classroom, they are becoming comfortable here. “I am adjusting very well,” Czech said. “I like being here, the students are great, I like my seniors, and the freshmen are great as well.”
A poster of a camel with a thought bubble hangs underneath the white board in math teacher Torissa Becksvoort’s classroom in C211. Photo by Rebekah Shultz.
In English teacher Mike Czech’s classroom is a U2 poster and Pink Floyd album cover in the corner of his room. Photo by Rebekah Shultz.
