Embedded Files
By: Sabrina Avila
This school year AHS welcomed their newest principal, Dr. Pacholewski to the greenhouse. After being an English teacher for ten years and an assistant principal at Ashland for another seven years, Dr. Pacholewski is ready to start a new chapter at Aurora.
Growing up in a family full of teachers, Dr. Pach always knew that she wanted to pursue a career in teaching. “My desire to become a teacher started at a very young age,” Dr. Pach shared. Her aunt is a reading specialist, her grandmother is a special education teacher and her mother is a college professor.
Growing up, her summers were filled with an abundance of reading games which ignited her love for the subject from an early age. “I spent a lot of time in my aunt’s classroom and in my grandma's classroom. And I never thought of doing anything else because I totally loved it and it was magical,” Dr. Pach mentioned. Because of her close teaching role models, she got a degree in teaching language arts grades 7-12. While she did find so much happiness in teaching, the opportunity to become an administrator called to her.
Outside of her school life, Dr. Pach absolutely adores spending time with her family. She is very grateful for her husband, Mr. Pach; they’ve been together for fourteen years and have two kids, Oliver, who is five, and Leo, who is eight. “We love spending time together, we love going outside and going on bike rides together,” Dr. Pach added. Her family is something that she could never take for granted and deeply appreciates.
When asked about her hobbies, Dr. Pach shared with the journalism class that she takes pleasure in the simplicity of gardening, reading and writing. She loves to plant flowers to give out to people. “I plant flowers around Memorial Day so that by the time they bloom, I can gift them to the staff,” Dr. Pach shared. As for reading and writing, they spark her love for teaching language arts and give her good vibes.
Dr. Pach’s decision to come to Aurora was inspired by the Aurora community.: “Aurora has a warm environment and is honorable,”she shared. In addition to that, Aurora’s values line up with her values, for which she is grateful for. “Absolutely everything in our district is what I believe in,” she said. All of Aurora’s values such collaboration, empathy, resilience, balance and more is what this community is committed to, which made her decision to become Aurora’s principal very easy.
When junior Olivia Leslie asked Dr. Pach what she loves most about AHS, her response was “What don’t I love about AHS?” She loves the dedication that the teachers and the staff put into their high-level work. “Who doesn’t want to work at a place like that?” Dr. Pach shared. Her hope for AHS is for people to feel comfortable being themselves and that AHS’s hard working staff continue to inspire students. “I would like to grow our community connections,” she added.
While her time at Ashland was great and always looks back to her amazing time spent there, she loves how there is always something going on in Aurora. “I can look at my calendar and there will be an event any day of the week,” she said.
Due to Dr. Pacholewski’s green thumb, support, and passion, the greenhouse will continue to thrive and flourish under her leadership.
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