If you haven’t quite noticed yet, there’s some people walking around that seem way too young to be experienced teachers but way too old to be a high schooler. Those are student teachers.

The great thing about having a student teacher step in is that they are on the same playing field as you: they too are trying to learn and graduate.

The Family and Consumer Sciences Department acquired a dedicated student teacher, Ms. Kuda and another fortunate department was the English Department who got not one but two student teachers, Mr. Vanderjack and Ms. Walkowski.

Kuda, Walkowski, and Vanderjack all had much to say about LHS, their student teaching experiences so far, and about their future teaching careers.

Vanderjack commented on his favorite thing about LHS and student teaching. “The fact that students are academically motivated, critical thinkers and above all free thinkers.” He jokingly added, “The water has a nice taste to it.”

To talk about his mentors, he eagerly referenced The Lord of the Rings after a pause and getting fed the idea by one of his mentors themselves, “The teachers are very cooperative, Mr. Deguzman and Mr. Dron are the Gandalf to my Frodo.”

Vanderjack had much to say about the things he has learned that will aid him in his future practice. “Everything! Everything I thought I knew, I didn’t know. Everyday I take in about 200,000 bits of information and each of those are useful for my future practice. The teachers and students are teaching me a lot.”

Lastly, his best experience so far has been an ongoing one. “When at the end of the class I can see in people’s eyes that they learned something. Seeing people learn is mindblowing.”

Ms. Walkowski, student teacher for Senior and Sophomore English, gave insight on her favorite things about LHS and student teaching too. “For this school specifically, I like the block schedule. I love how friendly the students are too. About student teaching in general, I like learning. You learn how to do things you wouldn’t learn in regular classes at graduate school.”

To comment on the things she’s learned that will aid her in the future she simply said, “I’ve learned how to plan and unit plan with the department and for my classes.”

Walkowski had much to say about her best experience so far. She said, “The best thing is when the lesson you planned and thought out goes well and the students are engaged and learning.”

Ms. Kuda, whose first pick was LHS, had very similar answers. Being a LHS alumni, graduate of class 2012, she had much to reminisce on and build upon.

“Teachers that work here are so passionate about their subjects and meeting the needs of the students. Also, the students are eager to learn.”

She also had much to say about what she has learned so far. “Everything! Everyday’s a new experience and very different; everyday is a new challenge. You learn to be flexible.”

Her response to when asked about her best experience was congruent to Vanderjack’s response, “Everyday is a good experience but the best is when students have that “aha!” moment and they understand what you’re teaching.”

She got to talking after the scripted questions and she had great insight to share with those pursuing teaching careers. “Student teaching is the most challenging thing in college. You’re not only teaching but learning the curriculum and materials.”

Regarding the advantage of being an alumni she said, “Being an alumni, I have an advantage because I went through this curriculum already so I don’t have to learn it all from scratch.”

It seems as if Vanderjack, Walkowski, and Kuda, alike, are enjoying their teaching time here at LHS so let’s continue to make them feel at home and allow them to finish off their senior year on a good note as well.