By Caitlin Beaver

This Week’s Pick: Ms. Auten 

Ms. Kristi Auten is not only the business and keyboarding teacher but also the coach of the scholar bowl team. I stopped by her class during her planning period and asked her a series of questions to help all of us get to know her.

What is your job here at the school? I am the business and keyboarding teacher at the school. I teach every grade with a few grade specific classes. I do a lot for the school such as managing posts on the school website, creating—with the help of my class—and selling year books and coaching the scholar bowl team.

Tell us a little bit about your life before teaching. I grew up in McLeansboro, Illinois, and attended Rend Lake College and Southeastern Illinois University–Carbondale where I actually earned my degree to become a history teacher but then I got an endorsement for teaching business. I actually preferred teaching business. I enjoy it more.

Was there anything you wanted to pursue before you started teaching? This might come as a surprise for the students. I actually thought about becoming a pharmacist and studying Pharmacology.

What are some of your favorite hobbies and interests? I enjoy playing golf, reading, riding my bicycle, and playing with my niece and nephew. 

What is your favorite thing about your job? My favorite thing about my job is the staff and students here at the school. I enjoy my classes and the kids I get to teach. We have a good batch of students.

What is your least favorite thing about your job? Ms. Auten pondered this for a while when I asked this question. She just could not find anything she disliked about her job here. “Maybe the same as before the students…No I'm just kidding. I don’t think there really is anything I dislike about my job. I am pretty content with my workload.”

If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be? Ms. Auten said she would make the school day shorter, and I think most students would agree that would be a good change to our schedules. “I am not a morning person. I hate getting up in the morning, so I would make the school days shorter.”

Is it hard juggling teaching and coaching the scholar bowl team? Ms. Auten coaches the school's Scholar Bowl team. The team meets every Wednesday after school till 3:30 for practice and regularly holds matches at the school as well as the surrounding schools. These matches include various trivia categories—art, music, history, geography, math, science, literature and pop culture. "I don’t find it hard at all. It gives me an opportunity to get to really know some of the kids I don’t always know in my classes.”

I know you take shifts at your family’s pizza place. Does that ever interfere with your work here? The simple answer is: No, it does not interfere with my work. “Thankfully I don’t have to do it often. The only time I take over is when McLeansboro and here [NCOE] have dances or events going on.”