{"id":7696,"date":"2025-06-11T12:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=7696"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:02:13","slug":"learning-to-teach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=7696","title":{"rendered":"Learning to teach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1st Place, Human Interest Feature<\/strong><br>2023-24, Division 3, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Maggie Locricchio<\/strong><br>Scriptor<br>Wylie E. Groves HS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d A question that is as intimidating as it is exciting. A question that causes anxiety with a fear for the future. High schoolers dread this question but must base their chosen courses and classes around a career they are uncertain of. For me, thankfully, the uncertainty and confusion came to an end during my freshmen year. After just one year of high school, I was positive about what I wanted to do with my life. Despite the stigma surrounding going into education, I know I am meant to be a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As my mom and I strolled through the cluttered aisles of TJ Maxx, I spotted and made eye contact with our neighbor, Mrs. Taylor. Before I knew it, my mom and Mrs. Taylor were in deep, catch-up gossip like they hadn\u2019t just seen each other take out the trash that morning. As the conversation escalated, the topic of college was brought up. As I explained how I wanted to attend Michigan State University to pursue education, I noticed Mrs. Taylor\u2019s facial expression shift. The cheerful grin that had once been spread across her face had transformed into horror and pity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh honey, why?\u201d she asked, \u201cYou seem like a smart girl. Trust me, out of all the career paths out there, you could do so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is safe to say that this very interaction was \u201cmy villain origin story.\u201d I became even more interested in becoming a teacher. As my obsession flourished, I learned more about myself, discovering that I want to teach high school students to help kids discover themselves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being a doctor is admirable and saving lives is impressive. Becoming a lawyer keeps you on your toes and going into politics gives you a chance to change the world. As for education, I want to do all of that and more. I want to make an impact on kids lives like many of my teachers have done on mine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I find myself filled with pride any time I get a chance to talk about my future. I get a rush of joy and excited anxiousness just thinking about taking control of my own classroom. I got the same feeling of excitement talking to Groves High School teachers about their day-to-day as an educator. When I interviewed them, I got the chance to become closer to my teachers and built a relationship bigger than pupil and teacher. I was able to interview three teachers, Thomas Kaufman, Laura Bobrow, and Charles Crimando, to get insight into the works of the classroom. I received great advice that I hope to use and cherish in the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The knowledge I obtained will not only make for strong educators but stronger people. I began each interview the same, by asking why that teacher went into teaching. From there the conversation took flight.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI worked in a summer day camp and I realized I really liked working with kids and youth,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cI found I could shape them into the best that they could be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed helping people,\u201d Bobrow said. \u201cI had a math teacher in middle school who was really young and energetic and I developed a really close relationship with her. I have also been a really good rule follower and math is all about rules so I was really successful with it. So I was like, hey, I can help people do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think I wanted to do something that had some sort of actual value in the world that isn\u2019t just monetary and I always loved art and the written word and stuff like that,\u201d Crimando said. \u201cWhen I was thinking about career prospects, I thought this is a place where I can sort of blend all of these things that I love and do it there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After talking with all my teachers I found a common theme between them all: it\u2019s all about helping people. Teaching is not about the money but the reward of a child becoming interested in what is being taught and growing as a person. There will always be that one teacher that made a difference in your life. I hope I can influence and help kids find their place in the world. This made me curious about my interviewee\u2019s career plan. Is teaching a first choice for a career? This is what the interviewees had to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI liked math so I always wanted to be an engineer,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cAnd then I realized after working in the summer camp, I was like, No, I think I want to work with kids the rest of my life because it\u2019s very rewarding and you don\u2019t get that rewarding sensation from many other career paths. Sophomore year of college is when it became part of my plan because it was after my freshman year of college that worked at that day camp and then I was doing engineering classes and I was like, I just don\u2019t see myself sitting in meetings all day. I just didn\u2019t think in 30 years, I\u2019m going to retire and be proud of what I did, and I knew for a fact that in teaching I could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIronically, I didn\u2019t want to be a math teacher. I wanted to be either a phys ed teacher or a music teacher because I was very athletic and musically inclined. But I always knew I wanted to teach,\u201d Bobrow said. \u201cSo I knew I would be a teacher but I didn\u2019t know it\u2019d be a math teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEver since ninth grade, I was interested in it. Some people are like that and others just float into it later in their careers realizing it\u2019s more important,\u201d Crimando said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everyone has their good and bad days at work. To no surprise, teachers also face this too. But what does a good day entail for a teacher? What defines a bad day? Is there a certain line that has to be crossed to confirm and differentiate between a \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019 day? I asked Kaufman, Bobrow and Crimando and what they had to say fascinated me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t really have a hard time getting up in the morning because it\u2019s the best job,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cThe hardest part is to reach a kid that is just unreachable. It\u2019s frustrating when I can see what parents are teaching their kids to do, and how they\u2019re teaching their kids to be just utter failures in college. Another hard thing about teaching for me was changing who I was a little bit for the benefit of students. I\u2019m a people pleaser. In teaching, you can\u2019t be a people pleaser, which was a hard thing for me to realize, but I realized I can be myself, I can still be positive and I can still be goofy. But I\u2019m enjoying my life. I\u2019m enjoying teaching, I\u2019m enjoying focusing my energy on the fun parts. The good parts far outweigh the bad parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProbably the biggest struggle that I had was struggling to connect with students in a short period of time. When I can\u2019t connect with the kids it\u2019s hard to teach the way I want to teach and I don\u2019t feel like my personality shows through,\u201d Bobrow said. \u201cThe best part is seeing growth in students. I love seeing how kids change because what\u2019s special about high school is when you come in as a freshman, you\u2019re a kid and when you leave you\u2019re an adult. So the change from freshman year to senior year is really really cool.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the hardest things is you just never know what\u2019s going to be next in terms of a challenge,\u201d Crimando said. \u201cA lot of things are always up in the air and constantly shifting. The ground is never solid. Then if I know that there\u2019s a kid that\u2019s struggling, and I have no way to help them, that sucks. There are just times when your control is so limited. But you got into the job because you love people and you want to help the people that you love. I love my students and I want them to succeed. I never feel that I never have to come to work thinking my job doesn\u2019t matter. That\u2019s the cool thing about teachers is that they have this huge collective impact that is impossible to measure and you have no idea how you\u2019re impacting a person\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My last question for the interviewees hit home, especially after the Coronavirus pandemic. It\u2019s no secret that the world has changed after the year 2020 but I became curious about the change inside the classroom. How has teaching changed and what will continue to change?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think teaching is one of the fastest-changing careers,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cIn every single generation, you\u2019re going to have those teachers that say \u2018it\u2019s not the same as it used to be\u2019 or \u2018kids these days\u2019. The biggest thing I could tell young teachers is the mindset of the teacher, which is focusing on what this generation can do vs. what past generations can\u2019t. It\u2019s the most accepting and loving generation of any generation in the history of the world and we got to realize that. The classroom you are in isn\u2019t going to be the same as the classroom you grew up in; it\u2019s going to be different. But we need to embrace that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think teachers have been more into students\u2019 personal issues and trying to be more accommodating. I think some teachers are also getting a more perspective of what\u2019s important,\u201d Bobrow said. \u201cThe future needs good teachers because people don\u2019t want to do it anymore. And you have to do it because you love what you do when you have to be passionate. You have to be committed. You have to love what you do. We need teachers because it\u2019s really a problem for the country. I worry about my kids; It just trickles down. So if you want to make an impact teaching is like one of the best places to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTeaching has changed in a way that it\u2019s a really clear idea now that students are the center of the classroom. Kids are coming up with their ideas, and the teacher is more like secondary to that and more of a coach,\u201d Crimando said. \u201cAs for future teachers, don\u2019t let anybody deter you. Don\u2019t let somebody tell you that it\u2019s not for you. Tons of people told me that it\u2019s not a good job and you\u2019re treated poorly. That\u2019s not even true. A lot of people respect what you do in the end. There\u2019s going to be people who have opinions about everything. I feel like sometimes many people like to say not to be a teacher because they wish they could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>NW-13. Human Interest Feature<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Human interest features appeal to the emotions of the reader with inspiration, motivation, pathos or humor and often make effective use of quotes. Enter descriptive, personal experience or accomplishment, or humor in this category. These are generally shorter stories. Submit a PDF of the print page(s) on which the story was published or the URL to the story on an online news site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>JUDGING CRITERIA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emphasizes new element, fresh angle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Colorful, lively presentation; effective form\/style<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reflects adequate research, sound interviewing techniques<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoids summaries of published materials<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Effective use of facts\/quotes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interesting; appeals to the emotions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proper diction\/grammar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1st Place, Human Interest Feature2023-24, Division 3, News Writing By Maggie LocricchioScriptorWylie E. Groves HS \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d A question that is as intimidating as it is exciting. A question that causes anxiety with a fear for the future. High schoolers dread this question but must base their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61,4],"tags":[217,22],"class_list":["post-7696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-humaninterestfeature","category-nw","tag-2024-25","tag-division3","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mikayla Mazza","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=14"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-208","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}