New Teachers Who Have Improved the School

By Madonna Marquez

Great new teachers who have helped improve the school year are, Mr. Morris, Mr. Heward, Mrs. Hatt, and Mrs. Rodriguez. All of them have loving hearts and care for the students who attend their class and would love to see them behave and achieve all of their goals and most importantly succeed. These teachers have a great attitude with where they are and what they are doing. Most student may think that teachers are aliens from a different planet, but if anyone had the chance to stop and talk to them they will realize that they are humans just like the rest of us.

All four of these teachers have agreed that seeing some one learn what they teach is a great feeling for them. Mr. Morris loves watching his student learn something new, Mr. Heward is crazy about introducing students to the things he loves, Mrs. Hatt really enjoys seeing the students "get it", and Mrs Rodriguez likes playing with the physics toys and getting students excited about learning science. They also love helping out the students and love it when the students are ready for the class and participate.

All the teachers came from different places. Mr. Morris came from his home of a loving family. This is his first time teaching a class at any school. Mr. Heward came from teaching UVC and also teaching a middle school. Mrs. Hatt changed from working at a billing office at Alpine Pediatrics, she also teaches English and Math in Lehi. Mrs. Rodriguez actually worked at Timpanogas two years earlier, she took a break and enjoyed her family. All these new teachers have decided to come work at Timpanogas as a wonderful experience for them and are also giving the students the same full throttle.

Timpanogas may be "perfect" but the new teachers would like to change somethings. Mr. Morris would like to change his Internet connection and would like to have phone reception in the band room. Mr. Heward would like to see more cans get recycled and have a way to recycle more things. Mrs. Hatt would love to have a key to the copy center because she stays late after school when mostly everyone is gone. Mrs. Rodriguez would like to change the way her classroom looks, she would like her classroom to be more decorated.

Comparing the school to other places where they have worked before Mr. Morris states that this school is great, and there is nothing it can compare to. Mr. Heward states that he likes Timpanogas better because the students are more motivated to learn. Mrs. Hatt states that its definitely Timpanogas because she sees more interaction and its better then sitting in front of a computer all day and she states that she will more likely to grow here. Mrs. Rodriguez states that the school is still the same since the last time she has been here, its always been a friendly environment.

All the teachers have a second favorite subject. Mrs. Rodriguez, besides physics, enjoys astronomy. Mr. Morris, besides music, loves history. Mrs. Hatt, besides Math and English, is overwhelmed with love for music. Mr. Heward , besides biology, loves animal behavior. They have many likes and dislikes of classes just as the student body here at THS. The teachers were once young in high school just like most of us are now.

Here are some of the clubs these teachers would of loved to join: Racket ball club (if there was one), guitar club, the office club, and to make up a club, the star gazers club. Mr. Heward chose the "office club" because he likes being involved. Mrs. Hatt chose the guitar club because she loves music, she also can not play guitar but would like to learn. Mrs. Rodriguez chose star gazers club cause she enjoy astronomy.

The techniques these teachers are each very unique. Mr. Morris uses analogies, stories, and demonstrations. Mr. Heward likes to use classroom discussions where the students get into the conversations. Mrs. Hatt uses her own technique which she calls, " I do it, you do it, we do it", she also likes to use models. Mrs. Rodriguez uses hands on experiences and lab work.

Consequences of not following the rules? Well Mr. Morris says, "Three strikes, your out!" Mr. Heward says he hasn't had that many consequences because his students are pretty good, the only thing he has had to do is take cell phones away. Mrs. Hatt has her rules posted up. She says that 5 rules is enough to understand and the students should have enough integrity to know whats good and whats not. She also uses a reward system. She gives tickets out, the more they have the most likely they will win prizes and for the consequence she takes the tickets away. Mrs. Rodriguez treats her students like adults unless they do not act as an adult. She also says if the students look interested and are active in class and participate then they don't have to worry about consequences.

Their goals in five years? Most of them stated that they will still be working for THS as a teacher and then some. Mrs Morris would love to still be working for THS and also working on his Masters Degree. Mr. Heward had a simple answer saying he would still be a teacher at THS. Mrs. Hatt says she probably will still be teaching, but she also wants a family and a dog. Mrs. Rodriguez says she will definitely be working at THS in five years.

Mr. Morris always wanted to be a teacher ever since he was about twelve years old. But unlike Mr. Morris, Mr. Heward wanted to be a wildlife biologist. Mrs. Hatt says nope she never wanted to be a teacher cause her mother was an elementary teacher. She helped her mother with the planning. But one day she went on a mission and decided she loved teaching people what she loved. And she also loved being able to help people. Mrs. Rodriguez never knew what she wanted to do until her third year in college, but she figured it was teaching she wanted.

Here are some quotes the teachers would like their students to hear.

Mr. Morris says, "I tell them, no misfortune in life is so bad that whining about it wont make it worse."

Mr. Heward says, "Tardigrades are awesome!!!"

Mrs. Hatt says, "Just do your best, cause that's all you can do."

Mrs Rodriguez says, "I hope you have fun and enjoy physics, but also learn a lot from it."