Teacher Spotlight - Ms. Schorg

by Aidin D.

My name is Aidin Dubinovic and I am here today to interview my science teacher, Ms Schorg.

When did you start working at Summit Middle School?

I started working at Summit last year, so the 2020-2021 school year. This is only my second year of teaching.

What is your favorite part about teaching?

My favorite part about teaching is the interaction with the students and making a difference in their lives.

Besides being a teacher, what other job would you do instead?

If I had not become a teacher, I was very interested in becoming an interior designer. My sister and I had always talked about opening a business together, but then we both became teachers!

What is your favorite unit to teach in science?

My favorite unit to teach in Science is genetics/heredity. One of the reasons it is my favorite is because the students really get involved with the unit. It pertains to them a lot, so the engagement and interaction from them is super fun!

How did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?

I have wanted to become a teacher ever since I was little. I come from a family of teachers and grew up playing school in my mom’s classroom all of the time. This led me to thinking I wanted to become a teacher. It wasn’t until high school when I was 100% sure I wanted this to be my career. I tutored students and it felt great when they understood what I was trying to help them with.

Is there anything you’d wish you knew when you first started teaching?

One thing I wish I knew going into teaching would have been to develop more organizational skills. I feel I am a very organized person, however with teaching you have to keep track of a lot of things within your classroom. If I did not have my planner or a system within my room, I would go crazy!

What is the hardest part about teaching?

I would say the hardest part about teaching is that everyday is different. While I love this part, it can be very challenging. There are many times that you do not know how a student is going to act, schedules are changed, or if your technology is going to work or not.

That is all my questions I had for Ms. Schorg. She answered them very well and now I know a lot more about her and I hope you learned something new about her too.

Teacher Spotlight

by Denise F.

This month I decided to interview someone who has been here from the beginning of summit, Mr. Kimpston from Voyage. You may not know him, but I do, so I decided to interview him and here is what he had to say.

Question 1- What period is your favorite to teach, if you don’t have one then, what year has been your favorite to teach?

Answer 1- “I probably shouldn’t say lunch period, so I won’t. I do like lunch though. I think my first year, 21 years ago, in Johnston was my favorite year. I had already been a teacher for nine years, so it was fun coming to a great district like Johnston with already having some teaching and coaching experience.”

Question 2- What are 3 things you wish you knew before becoming a teacher?

Answer 2- “The first would be knowing how fast the years fly by so I would have appreciated certain things better. The second, to have learned to speak Spanish. I took German in school and college. I have never used it. I could have used Spanish a lot. The third, to know how to do a back flip. I think it would be a great way to get the class back on track or their attention.”

Question 3- What was your dream job as a kid?

Answer 3- “A train engineer. My grandparents lived right by the tracks and I saw a lot of trains as a kid and the engineers would always wave back and blow the train’s whistle. I also like overalls, so I think it would have been a great career fit for me.”

Question 4- Have you ever thought about quitting your job?

Answer 4- “Honestly? Never.”

Question 5- What is the craziest thing that has happened at Summit?

Answer 5- “A real fire. It happened while they were building the Odyssey community. One worker had minor injuries, but thankfully no one was seriously injured. The other was about 10 years ago when there were Coyotes out in the fields between us and Horizon. Everyone at recess and in phys. ed had to come inside the building.”

Question 6- What are the things that you like about being a teacher?

Answer 6- “Being around middle school kids. I still feel young even though I’ve been compared to student’s grandparents and Santa sometimes. I also love late starts!”

Question 7- What are the things that you don’t like about being a teacher?

Answer 7- “Snow days! We have to make them up in June.”

Question 8- What is some advice that you would give to your students that you think would help them later on in their lives.

Answer 8- “Worry or be concerned about the important things and don’t get upset over the small things. Now you just have to figure out which things are which.”

You might not know who Mr. Kimpston is but I guess now you know a little bit about a teacher's opinion who you’ve never even met before.