Teacher Feature:
Learn all about our amazing staff! We will feature several members of the staff -- teaching, administration, etc. every month for you to get to know the awesome people working at WMS!
Learn all about our amazing staff! We will feature several members of the staff -- teaching, administration, etc. every month for you to get to know the awesome people working at WMS!
Today we interviewed Miss Willey, the school secretary, with a series of questions. We asked her about the best part of her job and she replied with “the students when they come in and she is able to help them with what they need”. Our second question was about what the worst part of her job is, and she said that it is seeing the students get into trouble when all they needed was a little more guidance. We asked Ms. Willey what exactly her job entails. She responded with, “ I do the attendance, balancing money, staff payroll, and make sure everything is in place to make the year of 2020-2021 a good year.” We asked what the hardest thing she does is and her response was seeing the children who needed a little more guidance get in trouble.
One of our questions was how Covid-19 has affected her. Her reply was that she sees first hand how students are affected because she sees how a straight A student goes down a few grades, and how they handle it. Our other Covid related question was how Covid affected her job. She said that her job is a bit more complicated and she was also more able to provide what us students need. Her resonance to the question should masks be mandatory was she gets why we wear them to protect each other.
A more fun question was if she had any animals. Miss Willey has two St. Bernards named Diesel and Sally. We asked what her favorite animal is and she said her St. Bernards. Because she said this, we asked her why, she said that they can sense if you've had a bad day or if you're sad, calming, and reliving. Our final question for Miss Willey was where she worked prior to her job now. Her answer is that she worked at a federal prison and at a seabus patient as a caseworker. Her favorite was working at the federal prison. Thank you Miss Willey for giving us your time to ask questions and being patient!
Jon Sutton is the 6th-grade science and art teacher. This is his 2nd year teaching at Willcox Middle School. Before he became a teacher, he did advertising for a real estate company. He really enjoys teaching 6th graders, because they are fun and energetic. He wanted to become a teacher because he wanted a way to help students get ready for the future.
Mr. Sutton's favorite part about teaching is when he is able to help a student understand the lesson. He also loves the days when students ask good questions about the lesson. He likes teaching art because it is exciting to see the creativity of the students. Mr. Sutton likes teaching science because it is fun. Also, because we talk about it every day.
Mr. Sutton loves WMS because of all the positivity and fun activities. But, he says all of the teachers can agree that the meetings are the worst thing about school. Lastly, he said for future teachers “to always have a plan for class before class starts.”
Interview conducted October 22, 2020
Mrs. Ortega is a Parapro at Willcox Middle School. She has been working here for about one and a half years. An interesting fact is that her husband, Mr. Chaim, is the principal here at the school. Also, she has two interesting allergies. One is to sulfa which is an ingredient in medicines. The other is to peppers or anything spicy.
She very much enjoys working here about the same as her term at the elementary school. She thinks working with her husband is a very interesting experience --One that she never thought would be a reality. While she enjoys it, she attempts to stay away from him while here on campus. She has a Masters Degree in Psychology at a doctoral level, and a Masters Degree in Organizational Management. If she could pick she would be a Counselor for elementary, middle school, and college students.
Mrs. Ortega has told me that Covid-19 has been a challenge to her. For example she had to adjust her lifestyle accordingly. She would also like to have all the students attend school on Fridays “to expand the learning experience.” Miss Johnston and Mrs. Garcia are among her favorite teachers and staff here at WMS.
Mrs.Poothaluri is an 8th grade math teacher. She has many interesting aspects to her character,background,and personality.This year is her third year teaching at Willcox Middle School.Out of her three years of teaching,her favorite year so far was her second year (2019-2020). Mrs. P states that she chose math because “math is my favorite subject” and because math also creates deep thinking. Her favorite thing about teaching is that she loves spreading her knowledge. Furthermore one of her favorite things she likes to tell her students is “every problem has a solution, not just in math but in life”. Some teachers Mrs.Poothaluri are Mrs.Webster and Mrs.Perolino. Did you know that Mrs. Poothaluri’s biggest dream was to move from India to the United States? Mrs.P Chose Willcox to teach at because She got offered to teach here. I asked Mrs. P what her favorite class period was and she said, “third hour because they are so interactive and very funny.” Mrs. Poothluri is an amazing teacher and I hope she stays here.