The Chalk Blog

We are excited any time we get a chance to highlight the accomplishments of a great teacher! Rachel Steil, a member of the Learners Edge Evaluator Team, is a Minnesota Teacher of the Year finalist!  Rachel is a High School English and Journalism teacher.  She has been a Course Evaluator for two years, and currently provides personalized feedback for students in 5018: Cultivating Mindfulness in the Classroom, 5850: PBIS 101, 5856: Project-Based Learning, and 5833: One Stop Shop.  Rachel is also an instructor in our Master’s/Post-Graduate Certificate program with Southern New Hampshire University.  We sat down with Rachel to learn a bit more about her teaching experiences and how Learners Edge contributes to her classroom practices. 

Interview with Travis Dresch

When we were kids, our minds were blown when we saw teachers outside of school. It was so out of context, but mysteriously cool: we saw them as humans, rather than just as their professional selves. 

To this end, the Learners Edge Chalk Blog interviews teachers in a regular segment called "Teacher Feature!" To hear more about the people behind the magic in the classroom, read on, and be inspired by these fantastic education superstars.

“Choose to be happy.” This is Travis Dresch’s teaching mantra. Travis is our featured teacher for August! Travis teaches high school chemistry and biology in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District in Pennsylvania. It’s apparent he enjoys science and teenagers which not everyone can say. 

I virtually “met” Travis when he signed up for one of our new courses: 5100: Train Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Practice of Happiness. His choice of courses sense given his mantra! (We thank Travis for his loyalty as this most recent course was only one of EIGHTEEN courses he has taken since 2015. Clearly Travis is also a life-long learner!)  

We asked Travis some serious, and not so serious, questions! Take a look.

Interview with Josh Petitt

When we were kids, our minds were blown when we saw teachers outside of school. It was so out of context, but mysteriously cool: we saw them as humans, rather than just as their professional selves. 

To this end, the Learners Edge Chalk Blog interviews teachers in a regular segment called "Teacher Feature!" To hear more about the people behind the magic in the classroom, read on, and be inspired by these fantastic education superstars.

Josh Petitt is a middle school English Language and English Language Arts teacher at St. Paul City School, a pre-k through eighth grade charter school near the capital. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Arts in Teaching through Hamline University. Josh lives in Hugo with his wife, two daughters, ages ten and seven, as well his son, who is three years old. The family also has a dog named Slipper.  

"As is usually case with major decisions, there is not single reason. After earning my undergraduate degree, I tried a series of jobs over several years. Most of them paid reasonably well, but they also left me feeling incomplete. I knew I needed to look for something wherein I felt I could make a difference, wherein I felt I mattered beyond the bottom line. At that point, I started volunteering, and one assignment was a middle school in Burnsville, MN, where I enthusiastically volunteered with one of their English as a Second Language classes. After the first day in that school, I knew I wanted to teach middle schoolers; I simply enjoyed the children that much. So why did I become a teacher? I suppose the easiest answer is that I enjoy spending time with adolescents."

Interview with Carol DeGeorge

When we were kids, our minds were blown when we saw teachers outside of school. It was so out of context, but mysteriously cool: we saw them as humans, rather than just as their professional selves. 

To this end, the Learners Edge Chalk Blog interviews teachers in a regular segment called "Teacher Feature!" To hear more about the people behind the magic in the classroom, read on, and be inspired by these fantastic education superstars.

Carol DeGeorge is a Social Studies teacher at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York. She earned her BS in Communications and her MS degree in Secondary Education/Social Studies from Iona College.  Carol also holds a Masters in School Administration and will soon be completing her third Master's degree, in Human Resources. She has been teaching for 27 years, including time teaching in Poland and China. In fact, she has traveled to all 7 continents, and has taken students to Ghana, South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

"Not quite sure why I went into teaching, but the reality is that when it comes time to retire, it is not going to be easy. I will miss the kids and the connections I have made with them. I will miss the silliness and fun I have as a teacher."

Past Teachers Who Shaped Our Futures...

My life is full of teachers – parents, in-laws, friends, husband – and I was in the classroom as a trained teacher for 11 years. There’s no end to the sacrifices regularly made by educators and education professionals, and we really should be thanking them year-round. There are many all-consuming professions, but education is one of the unique ones that has the responsibility for other human beings, so it’s pretty difficult to get an educator’s brain to power down and stop thinking about teaching and students. Teachers do it all, and they do it because of their true love of children and learning.  

Below, you can see how my colleagues and I couldn’t wait to talk about the teachers we have loved and appreciated in our educational journeys. Many, many thanks to these teachers, and to teachers everywhere!