Not only do the freshmen have to acclimate to a new school and being on their own, but so does new English teacher Mrs. Hall. You might recognize Mrs. Hall because she was here last year student teaching for Ms. Levin. Mrs. Hall explained, “I really enjoyed student teaching for Mrs. Levin. It helped me get to know the students and all the teachers in the English Department. By working here I don’t have to get used to different grading system, which helps me a lot.”
While growing up Mrs. Hall lived on an eighty six acre farm not too far away in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania. She lived there with her parents and her two brothers. Her high school was a lot different from PAHS. It was a small high school called Benton High. She had thirty kids in her graduating class. Even though it was small, Mrs. Hall was all about extracurricular activities. She participated in tennis, threw javelin on the track team, and she was the editor in chief of the school’s newspaper and yearbook. She was also a part of student council and the ecology club. When she wasn’t participating in school activities she enjoyed roller skating. “Not inline skating, I would never do that. There must always be four wheels on the ground,” she explained.
Mrs. Hall always knew she wanted to become an English teacher and work with youth, but before she took on teaching as a long term career she wanted other experiences. After attending Bloomsburg University Mrs. Hall joined the AmeriCorps VISTA program and moved to New Mexico for three years. She worked with disadvantaged youth in job training and GED tutoring. After that Mrs. Hall moved to Washington State and became a counselor for the mentally ill. In 2003 she attended Westchester University to get her Master’s degree. While she was at WCU she became interested in health education. She spent a year before getting her second Master’s degree at Villanova being a Drug and Alcohol Prevention Specialist for Chester County. Mrs. Hall explained, “The only reason I didn’t want to be a teacher at first is because my father always wanted me to be a teacher and I wanted to be rebellious and do something else.”
While attending Bloomsburg University there was a professor by the name of Dr. McCully who taught English. Dr. McCully had such an inspiration on Mrs. Hall. She explained, “Dr. McCully was the first teacher that I ever had who made me believe that teaching English could make a difference in the world. I feel that if a person can read and write well then they will have more opportunities in their life.” Perhaps due to her favorite college professor, Mrs. Hall does not only teach here at PAHS, she also teaches courses in Memoir Writing and Grant Writing at Delaware County Community College.
Here at PAHS, Mrs. Hall teaches a new class called Success in High School. This is a course that freshmen take to acquire better study skills that will help them throughout high school. She also teaches ninth and eleventh grade English. The academy is a big help to all ninth grade English teachers. “My favorite part about the academy is the fact that we get to combine classes and I get to work with the Global Studies teachers with all the research projects,” she stated.
When Mrs. Hall isn’t here at school teaching she lives with her husband and her two mini hamsters named “Little Dudes.” Mr. and Mrs. Hall enjoy playing basketball and they really enjoy playing the Wii. When Mrs. Hall gets some time to herself she enjoys reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.
Mrs. Hall’s favorite thing about teaching is how much fun she gets to have while she is working. “I’m very happy with my decision to become a teacher because I get to laugh every day.” As much fun as it is, the biggest challenge is all the paperwork that she has to do. It’s a big step going from a student teacher to becoming an official teacher. Last year Ms. Levin took on all the papers to grade, and it was a big shock to Mrs. Hall when she had to do it all herself. Her main goal for this year is to make sure that all her students do well. She also hopes to eventually come in the morning without a cup of coffee, and to survive this year on her own. So if you spot Mrs. Hall in the hall, wish the her best of luck as she starts her journey as a teacher.