Mrs. Musselwhite
5/1/23
By: Savanna Posey and Adrianna
Have you ever met Mrs. Musselwhite? If you have, you would know that she teaches a health and wellness class at Edgewood Jr High School for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. She is also a sports coach here at Edgewood Junior High School. Mrs. Musselwhite’s birthday is on April 19th, which was a few weeks ago.
Mrs. Musselwhite has been a teacher at Edgewood Jr High School for 20 years. She has taught 2 years in other school corporations and came to RBB in 2005. She teaches a health and wellness class for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders here at Edgewood Junior High School. Mrs. Musselwhite has been teaching Health and Wellness since January of 2015, so this is her 8th year teaching it. Mrs. Musselwhite used to work in Special Education and an alternative program.
Mrs. Musselwhite with her son Jack at his baseball game.
She has taught every grade preschool through high school. When she was in college she had to do a lot of internships (jobs). In Her last internship, she worked at a summer camp for kids with special needs. “So I changed my mind about what I wanted to get my Masters Degree in and got my degree in Education instead.” says Mrs. Musslewhite. Mrs. Musselwhite got her undergraduate degree from Valparaiso University (Bachelors of science) with majors in Exercise Science and Sports management and minors in Business and Chemistry. She got her graduate degree (Master of Science) from Indiana University in Special Education with an Emotional Disability concentration.
Mrs. Musselwhite with her husband on their first days teaching again.
Mrs. Musselwhite decided to become a health teacher because she said it combines a lot of things she likes. She has always had an interest in sports and nutrition and she also really likes working with students. Mrs. Musselwhite’s favorite part about teaching is the students. “Junior high students are a great mix of being adult-like in some ways and more kid-like in others. I also like having the same schedule as my own kids.” She also likes teaching because teaching allows her to take some time in the summer to do things like traveling. She also gets to teach swim lessons in the summer to people with special needs or have a fear of the water.
Some of Mrs. Musselwhites hobbies are Running, Working out, Lifting, and doing yoga. She does these things almost every single day. She likes to travel and has so many places that she still wants to go to. We asked dMrs. Musselwhite, where she has traveled to, said, “I have traveled to every state in the US except Alaska and Hawaii, England, Wales, Ireland, Mexico, and Canada.” Another thing Mrs. Musselwhite is interested in reading. She says, “I also really like reading, mostly fiction books.” She also likes to follow her kids around and watch them try new activities and participate in things that they love.
Does Mrs. Musselwhite coach any sports? The answer is yes she has coached swimming and track. She started coaching swimming in 2005 for both Junior High and High school. Now she only coaches for Junior High. Mrs. Musselwhite coached track for only 2 years. She coached for the 2006 and 2007 season.
Mrs. Musselwhite riding in a go kart.
Mrs. Musselwhite on a vacation.
When asked if she likes to teach, Mrs. Musselwhite said, “I used to say that I loved it. With the laws and policies designed to hurt public education, teaching has become harder than it was 20 years ago in a lot of ways. The expectations are almost impossible to meet, but I love sharing information about things that are important to me (health) with students and getting to interact with students daily. That and getting to coach and see students really come into their own make it worth it most of the time.”
Mrs. Musselwhite is a really great teacher. She spends so much time with her students. One of her students, Annalise Emmons says, “Mrs. Musselwhite is a wonderful teacher and she always gives me snacks.” Mrs. Musselwhite makes the learning fun for her students and she is always ready to help students if they get stuck.
Contributor Bios:
Adrianna is a 12 year old 6th grader. She does competition gymnastics, softball and runs both track and cross country. She likes to spend time with her friends and family.
Savanna Posey is an 11 year old girl who loves to hangout with her friends and family and play sports like volleyball, softball, and track.