Senior Spotlight:
Addison Greene

Addison Greene, a senior at Menasha High School, knew she wanted to be a teacher as her younger self set up a classroom for her stuffed animals.  Adorable.  She used old math books and school supplies and while teaching her stuffed animals.

The fire to become a teacher continued to grow from her family, who she saw in the teaching profession.

Nervousness and anxiousness filled Greene her first day as an After School teacher (AST).  Those feelings were completely normal and quickly extinguished when she was welcomed with open arms from her fellow ASTs and even the students too.

Being an AST inevitably brings days where one is stressed, but learning to manage that stress is important.  

Greene felt stressed when students did not listen to what she said or were disrespectful. Green found it important in these situations to remember that this was only two hours of the day, and most importantly there may be something more going on that she was not aware of. 

Greene has taken all of the education preparation classes available at MHS. Greene learned many lessons while in those classes. 

One of the most important things she learned was in “Intro to Teaching''.  She experienced what being in an actual elementary school classroom was like.  She observed and taught students in that classroom.   Being in the classroom helped build confidence by not only talking to the kids, but also teaching a lesson.

Greene plans to go to UW-Stevens Point and major in Elementary Education. Greene is considering possibly minoring in special education.

She is excited to gain more in-person classroom experience and learn more about the teaching profession. She wants to learn the best ways she can help her students “be the best they can be and set them up for success”.

After college, Green said, “I plan on teaching fifth grade because of the positive experience I had in my fifth grade classroom that I was helping teach.”

Greene has a couple of words of advice for someone who might want to be a teacher:

“I would definitely reach out and try to get some in class experience! It is definitely worth it to see if being in an education major is for you. It can be very stressful on occasion but you have to remember why you want to go into teaching.”