Ms. Soltesz

When asking Ms. Soltesz about her teaching philosophy as well as the environment she hopes to create in the classroom she had this to say, “My philosophy definitely revolves around students” , “ I just want to create an environment in which students can share ideas and can make mistakes and to grow from those mistakes “. Ms. Soltesz definitely has done more than fill a position, but really takes initiative and responsibility. Ms. Soltesz is very supportive of her students and their growing mindsets.

Ms. Soltesz when asked about her main goal for the year and for students she had this to say. “ My main goal is to look back and see how much they have grown “. She is very interested in not only getting students to participate, but to truly learn the subject and to apply it later in their life. Ms. Soltesz understands the diversity of student mindsets in the classroom and when speaking to her she impressed me through her detail oriented approach to the challenge. “ Raising the bar and getting my students to find a variety of ways of achieving that goal “.

Now when asked about the students' spring testing and how she might prepare them for that time she responded with, “ I think of standardized testing and helping my students be confident, and that they feel they did their best in the spring “. Ms. Soltesz is a teacher who not only shows incredible determination, but also actual interest in student engagement, empowerment, growth, mindsets, challenges, and preparedness for when they leave her classroom as well. Ms. Soltesz since being new to the school has found many exciting projects to do with the students through flash writing, text-based writing, and daily journal entries.

Meet Ms. Soltesz

By: Oshen J Maratita

I am super excited to introduce Ms. Soltesz, our newest addition to the English department here at Homer-Center. Ms. Soltesz is joining us from recently graduating Seton Hill University. I can already tell from only recently meeting Ms. Soltesz and being introduced to her that she is goal driven, passionate, hard-working, humble, and is someone who is very focused. Some background information of Ms. Soltesz as previously mentioned, Ms. Soltesz graduated from Seton Hill University. She majored in English and earned her teaching certificate, Ms. Soltesz is also proficient in media literacy, writing, composition, and literature.

Now some fun facts and experiences about Ms. Soltesz. Ms. Soltesz related immediately to her 18 years of dancing, “ I was on Seton Hill’s dance team and I was the team captain “. Ms. Soltesz also participated in the Macy's day parade when she was on the dance team for her high school. Ms. Soltesz highlighted that some of her best memories and years were on the dance teams for both high school and collegiate level. “I had made some of my best friends in dance”. Ms. Soltesz is deeply connected with dance, “My dance teachers were big in my life; they also were English teachers, and being able to talk about dance and teaching was extremely important to me “ . Ms. Soltesz also when asked about her desired superpower chose teleportation, “Magically being anywhere would be my dream “.

Ms. Soltesz, as I said before, is very passionate about teaching and her philosophy. One response that really stood out to me was this, “Being confident goes a long way “. Ms. Soltesz had told me that she had been heavily influenced by one of her long term substitute teachers who gave her a ton of great advice and motivation that lead her to pursuing an english major, however her two dance teachers had also been english teachers so being able to relate to them supported her decision of pursuing english as well. I can see from this interview that Ms. Soltesz embodies her mentor's passion, heart, vision, and leadership that is needed in today’s ever changing environment..

Some advice that Ms. Soltesz had connected with previously that she uses today that really resonated with me was, “ Not to doubt yourself” and “push yourself”. Ms Soltesz when asked to characterize her passion and connection with English responded with listening to family and mentors, and trusting herself and to be a leader. She also hopes that students take some inspiration or reflection from her experience and learn to be confident in their abilities.

Lastly, Ms. Soltesz had this to say to wrap up the interview. “I want them to know that we will be there for them to help them and that we care for them”. Ms. Soltesz is someone who you can tell immediately has a purpose, can navigate challenges, works to improve, enjoys the journey, personable, trustworthy, relatable, and ultimately wants the best for the student body of Homer-Center. She is someone who after only meeting her once has my full support and confidence in her ability to have a positive impact on our student body for the years to come.

As we continue throughout the school year, let's be sure to give Ms. Soltesz a warm welcome and support as she begins her journey here at Homer-Center. We look forward to her future at Homer-Center and thank you for reading this Cat in the Crowd on Ms. Soltesz.

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