Abby Kendal & George Roussev
WHMS Press
West Hills MS
1st Place
MS Division, News Writing
Informative Feature
This year, West Hills started the year with new faces. Some of the new faces belong to new staff. We have new teachers in 5th grade, 6th grade, and drama. We also have a couple of teachers who have switched jobs.
West Hills has two new 5th-grade teachers this year. Mrs. Tappin, and Mrs. O’Grady.
Mrs. O’Grady is one of our new 5th-grade teachers. She is filling in for Mrs. McVoy who is staying home this year after the birth of her daughter. Mrs. O’Grady has been teaching since 2007. She had the opportunity to work at West Hills in the past when she substituted for Mrs. Weeks with ESL.
“I love kids and exploring new ideas, and beginning a new adventure.” says Mrs. O’Grady
She enjoys sports. Her favorite team is the Chicago Cubs.
Mrs. O’Grady has a one daughter and a one son. They also have two pets: a cat named Boo and a tortoise called Darwin. In her spare time she likes to read, travel, and enjoys riding her bike.
Mrs. Tappin came to West Hills from Eastover where she was a principal. She missed teaching, and so she decided to return to the classroom. During Mrs. Tappin’s career, she has taught many different grades. The only grade she hasn’t taught before is kindergarten.
She has one daughter named Sydney who attends college. She also has a dog.
Her favorite sport is basketball. Her favorite color is blue.
Ms. Volk is the new sixth-grade reading teacher. She has taught at many different schools including one in Clawson, two Troy schools, and she also substituted in Birmingham schools for eight years. Besides teaching reading, she is also certified to teach social studies.
She attended college at the University of Michigan and Oakland University.
She decided to become a sixth grade teacher because a job was open at West Hills. “I decided to become a sixth grade teacher because there was an opportunity that opened up and reading and writing are my specialty.” said Ms. Volk.
She has enjoyed every part of West Hills, “I love, absolutely love West Hills. I enjoy kids, my colleagues, and bosses,” replied Ms. Volk when asked about her new job.
She is an avid traveler and adventurer. Also, her great, great, great, grandfather was a baron to Tzar Nicholas II.
West Hills also has a new drama teacher, Mr. Schumacher. Kids call him ”Mr. Shu.”
Mr. Schumacher’s favorite thing about West Hills is the people, “My favorite thing about West Hills is how nice and friendly all the students and teachers are to each other. Everyone takes the time to make each other feel welcome.”
Mr. Schumacher has taught at various schools across Michigan including schools in Three Rivers and Kalamazoo before West Hills.
He went to school at Western Michigan University. While there he majored in drama because of his love for dancing, singing and acting that he has had from a young age. “I have always loved drama and musical theatre. I have been singing, acting, and dancing since I was seven years old.”
Mr. Schumacher plays the piano and the saxophone, and also loves to play tennis!
Two teachers switched jobs this year. One is Mrs. Williams. She has been
teaching since 1999, and she said that switching to an IB coordinator is the next step because she just became an official IB educator.
But Mrs. Williams will miss teaching fifth grade. “I can imagine that some fourth graders would have wanted me, and that makes me sad sometimes and I don’t like to make students sad, but I feel like whoever you get you are always happy with,” said Mrs. Williams.
She loves her new job. “I definitely miss being with students every day, but I also love inspiring other teachers,” she said.
The other teacher who switched jobs is Mrs. Kunkel.
She has been teaching at West Hills for 15 years. In the first nine years she was at West Hills she taught eighth grade GERT for one year, seventh grade math and reading for a year and sixth grade science for seven years. During some of her years in sixth grade she also taught social studies. Then she became the Middle Years Program coordinator at West Hills and worked at Andover and BHHS coordinating the MYP and the 10th grade personal project.
Before coming to Bloomfield Hills Schools she taught in Detroit for eight years at two different elementary schools. She taught second grade for two years and then fourth and fifth grade science and math for six years.
She really missed being with students
and teaching, so she has returned to her favorite career this year teaching MYP design to the 7th grade students at West Hills and East Hills every other day.
“The students at both schools are wonderful and I am so happy to be teaching again.” said Mrs. Kunkel. She has always loved working at her home school West Hills and she is enjoying getting to know the staff at East Hills.