St Teresas Academy - Avila Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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difficult questions in art class. Left: Ms. Paula Neth enjoys a day in the yard. Top: Ms. Sue Carothers discusses the characteristics of animals with their biology class. Above: Sr. Mary Ann Lavin answers

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Top Center: Sr. Joan Tolle keeps busy checking papers in the Busi- ness Resource Center. Top Right: Ms. Rose Super is always ready to assist students in the lan- guage lab. Above: Mr. Steve Kneh ns always has a welcoming smile for his stu- dents. 19

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Top: Ms. Ann Maschler greets her students at the door of the social studies resource center. Above: Ms. Kate Tumminia con- ducts a poetry discussion in Hu- manities. Teachers An ideal student is some- one who is responsible for her own learning. I think I have a lot of ideal stu- dents. When the students and the teachers bring these positive attitudes into the classroom they are ready to tackle the subject matter. Students were well aware of the challenges they faced in the classroom, but teachers faced challenges of their own. Mr. Cox found Ameri- can Studies to be his great- est challenge because the sophomores who take it must deal with ideas that sophomores do not often consider. What methods did teach- ers use to meet these chal- lenges? One teacher com- mented that an on-going dialogue was useful and that what was most construc- tive was not the accumula- tion of data but more impor- tantly, a method of learning. Most of the teachers agreed that getting away from the teacher centered atmosphere is important. Mr. Cox thought that a per- sonalized approach will gain more creative and thought- ful responses. Ms. Hernon implemented a new format in her Honors Algebra II class. Students did problem solving in small groups for part of the class. This helped students figure things out on their own. But, she noted that the modular scheduling restricts her use of this idea in other classes. How well are these cre- ative solutions to the chal- lenge of teaching received at STA? Several people com- mented that STA was more innovative because it doesn’t have to conform to . •. cont. the guidelines set by public school districts. Most teachers felt that this free- dom in how to reach educa- tional goals was an impor- tant part of their choice to teach at STA. However, one teacher commented, The stated philosophy of STA is one that encourages non- traditional approaches to education. Ideals and reali- ty are not often the same. Each teacher had discov- ered methods that were ef- fective in various situa- tions. How effective is our system of education in the opinion of the teachers at STA? Do teachers believe that students are being pre- pared for life? Ms. Hernon said that she sees two ex- tremes both of which can be damaging. For example, there are those who are not well rounded because they study only one field of tech- nical interest while there are others who have no re- spect for the genius in- volved in sciences and math. Other teachers ex- pressed concern that the goal of education was seen as training the student for the job market instead of producing an educated per- son. As with any difficult topic, the questions raised were more numerous than the answers given. Teachers know why they are here and how they do their jobs. They know why we all come together and what we should be trying to achieve. They know they don’t have all the answers and that we don't even agree on the questions. But they also know that think- ing and talking about what we do may be the most im- portant thing we ever learn. 2