Behind every lesson plan and grading rubric lies a person with dreams, lives, and experiences of their own.
However, the personal lives of our favorite teachers often remain a mystery to the students they spend so much time with. It’s important that students learn about their educators when they aren’t going by “Mr.” or “Ms.”
According to the American Psychological Association, students with closer and more positive relationships with their teachers attain higher levels of achievement than those with strained relationships. With a good relationship and bond with a teacher, the desire to learn is promoted.
Here at Urbana, the teachers and staff are diverse in many different ways. They have so much to tell, yet somehow, we know so little about them. Let’s take a deep dive into Susan Guglielmini, Alexa Worthington, and Michael Frownfelter’s lives.
Ms. Guglielmini, the sports medicine and fitness teacher, often (and prefers to) go by Ms. G. She is many Urbana High students’ favorite teacher and for a good reason. She is cheerful, empathetic, and the biggest ray of sunshine.
When asked about how she balances her professional life with her home life, she answered, “It’s definitely a challenging balance, I think when I first started teaching I had a more difficult time balancing young kids and sports and out of school activities, plus lesson planning and grading. You know, there’s a lot you do after school.” Totally understandable! Students don’t always realize how much work teachers do and how easily work can invade their personal lives.
“Now, this is my twentieth year and my kids are older so I’ve really learned over time how to balance and turn it off. I think it just takes time and experience teaching,” she stated.
Ms. G’s hobbies outside of teaching include working out, taking walks with her dog Oakley, and of course, spending time with her husband and kids. “We love to go to the movies and I love to listen to music. Anytime I can hit up live music, I’m there.”
Summer break is everyone’s favorite time of year, especially our teacher’s, and Ms. G is a total beach girl. She said, “I definitely love the water, that’s my happy place.”
Everyone loves a good excuse to take a vacation. Her daughter attends Coastal Carolina University next to Myrtle Beach. “It’s just an excuse to go down to the beach and visit her,” she shared. How convenient!
If you ever see Ms. G in the halls or have her for a class, be sure to ask her about HGTV or Netflix shows that she’s catching up with. She loves time to unwind to herself and those are her go-to for decompression after a long day of school.
Mr. Michael Frownfelter, team sports teacher and Boys Varsity Baseball coach at UHS, is known to be a student favorite- especially by the athletes. Frownfelter claims that one interesting thing his students may not know about him is that he played division one baseball in college at West Virginia University.
Outside of school hours, Frownfelter is most definitely a family man. His favorite way to spend his time is with his three kids. He prioritizes them by leaving work behind when work hours are over. “I don’t take any problems I experience during the work day home with me,” he claims.
Over summer break, Frownfelter enjoys travelling, specifically going to the beach, and enjoying the down time with his loved ones. Last summer, they spent time in Hawaii, one of his favorite memories!
Frownfelter’s secret to being a great teacher is having patience with the kids. As long as his students are putting in their best effort, he will put in his. UHS is so lucky to have a teacher like Frownfelter!
One of Frownfelter students, senior Nile Lowther, provides insight from a student’s perspective of her teachers. When asked something she would like to know about her teachers that she thinks would improve her student-teacher relationship, Lowther claims “I would want to know how my teacher did in school when they were younger, especially in the subject they’re teaching me.”
To Lowther, what makes a great teacher is one that likes to see their students truly succeed, while maintaining a great level of independence. She feels that knowing more about her teacher outside of the classroom would contribute to a deeper connection with her teachers. She states, “Knowing what they do outside of school can also provide more conversation starters!”
Lowther believes that teachers and students likely have more interests and hobbies in common than they may think. Expressing them is the perfect opportunity to bring these out!
When proposed with the question of students’ reactions to teachers being more open, Lowther is under the impression that students would be happy with teachers sharing their lives! “They are people before they are teachers, and seeing that can be so helpful to the student-teacher relationship!”
Last, but never least, Ms. Alexa Worthington teaches Algebra 2 and AP Statistics. Worthington and her husband recently bought a fixer-upper, so this project takes up a ton of her time off from school. “I want to put a barn on my property. So just developing where I live and all that fun stuff…”
Worthington and her husband put a lot of effort into taking care of her animals and her home. Who would have thought how much work goes into her day after school hours?
She stated, “The first thing I do is go home, let my dogs out. Then I have to take care of my goats and chickens. So I go up, I spend time doing all their feed, change their water, clean the coops. That usually takes a while. Then it’s onto the cats…”
But wait, there’s even more! “I’m also usually working on a project. So this winter we have a wood stove inside. Any free time, I’m outside collecting kindling, firewood, all of that for whatever project we have going on around the house,” said Worthington. Wow, this woman never stops!
Who would have thought teachers had so much going on after hours? Worthington’s face lit up when asked about her personal life and what she is working on outside of school. Asking staff (appropriate) personal questions can make such a big impact even if it’s not obvious on the outside.
Nothing bad can come from taking an interest and caring. Everyone wants to be asked questions about themselves and feel important. Why wouldn’t teachers want the same?
