(Ms. Stoepker after her college graduation)
By: Anushka Dalvi
At the beginning of the year, a few new teachers arrived in the halls of Bergen Tech. One of them was Ms. Stoepker, a new teacher in the Physical Education department. I recently interviewed Ms. Stoepker about who she is and what she hopes to accomplish at Bergen Tech.
Ms. Stoepker is a recent graduate from Montclair State University, and this is currently her first teaching job. When I asked Ms. Stoepker why she wanted to study physical education, she told me about how she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Being the oldest out of everyone in her family, she always had a caring aspect about herself, which she felt was perfect for teaching. Furthermore, she went to Passaic County Tech, where she was in the early childhood and development program, learning about education. She also grew up playing a lot of sports, especially soccer, which she's played her whole life. Being a gym teacher felt like the perfect opportunity to combine two things she enjoyed: sports and education.
I then asked Ms. Stoepker how her teaching experience has been so far. She told me that it's been really fun. She loves being able to come to school every day to teach and play sports, whether it be badminton or soccer. I asked Ms. Stoepker if there was anything she disliked about teaching. To my surprise, she said there's nothing she dislikes about teaching. She believes this is because she hasn't been teaching long enough for there to be anything she does dislike. When I asked Ms. Stoepker about why she chose to teach at Bergen Tech, she gave me a few reasons. One was that she had never taught high school students before. During her time as a student teacher, she only ever taught elementary school students. Ms. Stoepker said she preferred to teach high school students because they have more personality. With older students, she can be sarcastic, and they'll pick up on it, unlike younger students who will look at her like she's crazy. Another reason was she felt there was an opportunity to coach here. She was right; she'll be coaching the winter track team this season with Mr. Buser.
I ended the interview with two more questions. One was asking Ms. Stoepker what her hobbies are. She told me she likes to play soccer and lacrosse, as well as go on walks. Another thing she likes to do is watch sports. Her favorite football team is the Cincinnati Bengals, but she also enjoys watching the New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils play. The last question was, if she wasn't a teacher what career path would she think she would pursue? Ms. Stoepker took some time to think about this question. She was set on teaching and hadn't thought of many other career paths. She finally decided that she could have done cosmetology. This is something she thinks is cool and would learn how to do since she's currently not that good at it.
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