As sophomores, the next few years of our lives will be the years of planning as we have to decide on a good college and, hopefully, our career choice. So, we wanted to interview adults in our lives to understand how to go about that process. We decided to interview four teachers at the high school, Ms. Jones, Mrs.Scott, Mr. Herrick, and Ms.Huller-White. From these interviews, we also learned how they made their own big life decisions and how they continue to have fun in their careers.
S: Student
T: Teacher
MS.HULLER-WHITE
We finally interviewed Mrs. Huller-White, an arts teacher at the high school. We both have had her as our 3D design teacher and we both learned many things in her class. She explained what her career path was in the past and how and why it led to her present career and the happiness she gains from it today. While interviewing her we could really tell Mrs. Huller-White really loves working at the high school and we are glad to have had her at different times as a teacher.
S: Why did you get into this profession?
T: Well that’s a bit of a story. So, I started my career as an artist in college and I knew I wanted to have a career as a commercial artist doing design illustration. I got my bachelor’s degree in fine arts and that’s what I did for about 20 years. I worked as a graphic designer and illustrator and had a lot of fun doing that. I had my own business for a while. I worked for an advertising agency in special effects photography and it was very exciting. It was kinda just when computers were used in the mainstream and so that made my job really interesting, especially for the special effects stuff. I knew that teaching was something I wanted to do, but I wanted to have this experience first. So , I got to a point in my career where I was just kind of feeling, “Okay, I’m getting bored. I’m not having as much fun as I used to and it’s a good time for me to go back to school.” Plus, I had money. I could afford my master’s degree and I could afford graduate school. I got a position teaching part-time and I got my license. I was teaching elementary school, but I was going to graduate school and I got my graduate degree. I knew when I was done I wanted to teach high school because I wanted to be able to use all of the things I learned in my professional career as a commercial artist and apply them as a teacher. Elementary teaching was fun, but it was, for me, just a good experience. One of the things I learned was that some rules for elementary schoolers still apply to high schoolers, like kindness and having empathy and to stage the whole project very carefully so you know exactly what you need to do and not assuming anything. All the things I learned from teaching in elementary school, I still apply in my teaching to high school and they serve me really well. So, that’s how I got into teaching, here I am. I’ve been teaching here for 7 years and I taught for 3 years at the elementary level. It’s my 10th year of teaching.
S: Do you have a favorite memory from teaching?
T: I think it’s not just one specific thing, it’s when I see a student really discover what they can do and they get very excited about their work. I think that is something that really inspires me as a teacher. It makes me want to go back and do more. Maybe come up with some new ideas or expand the projects I do with students. I work on making the projects bigger than they have been in the past because the feedback I get is that the students felt a bit limited and lacking choices, so I give them more options. I think they become a little bit overwhelmed, but they figure it out. I think, for me, the most memorable moments are when students discover what they’re capable of doing and then they just have so much fun with it and that, to me, is a very special thing that’s in every grade level.
S: Any funny or wacky things that have happened?
T: Well, yeah….accidents usually. But really funny things? I guess I don’t have anything specific. It’s more sometimes students will open up a jar of something and it goes flying all over the place and that becomes a moment and that happens whether it’s ink or paint or glaze.
S: Yeah, there’s that girl in my 3D design class who spills water everyday.
T: It’s more accidental stuff that happens for the funny moments. But, it is always fun when I’m teaching and students start to really share their ideas with me. Then we have a lot of fun and crack some jokes and have a good time with it. I don’t have anything specific in that regard.
S: Is there a moment where a student as taught you something?
T: Oh my goodness. Yes. Everyday, seriously. Everyday I learn something. Everyday’s an adventure. It’s like, “oh my goodness I could do that better” or “look at what that student did”, “I could never think of that in a million years!” and “how fabulous is that idea”. For me, it’s also very exciting to see what you guys do when I’m working with you because it’s just so much fun to learn something new from my students everyday and that’s what keeps me coming back because, otherwise, it would be really boring.