TOWAMENCIN – Many students may imagine their teachers to be some sort of mythical creature who lives and breathes school. But for many members of our school community, school is chapter 2, 3, or 4 of their working lives, as they have worked in their fields before entering a classroom. Get to know some of North Penn’s Teachers who have had previous careers.

Mrs. Sue Cassel

What was your previous career(s)?: I had a number. I always put them into periods, like my suburban matron period. I was doing two things simultaneously: for 17 years, I was a transcriptioness for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Criminal Procedural Committee. We had meetings every six weeks, and I would go to the meetings, and use a little cassette player to record the meetings. You know, play it when they went, stopped it when they stopped. I was also the liaison for the hotels we stayed in if there were any problems. I’d go and check things out while the tape was running. And then I would transcribe the tapes, which the chief attorneys for the committee would use to write up rules or things of that nature. I initially went in to the law school at Temple two days a week to do that, but then after the first couple of years, the Chairman of the committee was no longer based in Temple, so I did that from home. When the next Chairman came in, he wanted me at every meeting, We have met in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, State College, Gettysburg, etc.

Also at the same time, I did a lot of community theatre, but from 1982 until 1990, I did about a show or two a year at Riverfront Dinner Theatre, which was a paying job. The first show I did there was The Sound of Music, because they needed a replacement, then I also did How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Mame, Grease. After 1990, I continued to do community theatre, but I didn’t do any more paying. But during that time, I was still doing work at the law firm. In fact, the day I had the interview for the job here at North Penn, I caught a flight right after to go to Pittsburgh for a committee meeting.

I began working here at NPHS on September 11, 2001. The weekend before that was the last time I did any work for the law center. I was also a member of AFTRA(American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) . I was an extra in 1982 in Trading Places, and then I was in something called Mannequin in 1987, which was filmed in Wanamaker’s, now Macy’s. I was also in two films called Clean and Sober and Dead Poets’ Society.  

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?:  Well, I was a teacher to start out with, that’s what my degree is in. I have a degree in Secondary Education, English, and Speech and Theatre. I taught for 2 ½ years in the Reading School District, then my husband got transferred to Washington, so we lived there, then Virginia, then we moved back here in 1979, and I began working for the criminal rules committee in 1984. I subbed for one day in Washington: I was pregnant, and it was horrible, so I definitely didn’t do that anymore. And then, in 1996, I decided that I was bored with this criminal rules thing, so my husband said, why don’t you go back to teaching? At that time, I was president of the IFC (International Friendship Committee), so I already had ties to NPHS. So I began to sub here from 1997 to 2001. I actually had Mr. Manero in one of the classes I subbed for. ( I knew the Manero twins and their parents.)

What is your favorite part of teaching?: Being with a lot of really interesting and fun kids. They make me laugh.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: There is a lot more anxiety and stress. A lot more kids have trouble dealing with all the things that are out there these days. And they also take way too many AP courses when they don’t need to, and then they get themselves crazy. That really worries me. I have seen kids have so much trouble just trying to do everything and be everything, when they don’t have to. You are 15, 16. This should be a fun time. Challenging, but fun.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?:  Of course!  I took a medical leave of absence after my son Sam passed away, and on the day I left, a group of sophomores came to me with a gift of a Japanese tea set from the Japanese market.  I still display that set in my dining room. It’s not really an experience in the classroom, but it’s one that I think about whenever I look at the tea set. Also, many of my students volunteered (with Dr. Giersch, who was then the choral director) to sing at Sam’s viewing.

And if you want an in-class experience, it was the time my entire class knew the words and sang the song American Pie with me…

Or a teaching experience — I loved when we had the interdisciplinary program and did projects based on Japanese literature and history — it was called Sakura Matsuri, and it was a competition between Gifted classes. We did that for about 7 years.

Mrs. Linda Westerlund

What was your previous career?: My degree is in business administration, so I went through college and got a business degree, and then I worked in the legal field. I was an administrative assistant, I worked for a couple different law firms. At one point, I did run a daycare center out of my home when my youngest child was little. Even in college, I worked part time at a law firm down in Tennessee. Then I moved to Georgia, since the attorney that I worked for in Tennessee called a law firm down there, we made a connection, and I got a job there. Then a worked for a few different law firms in Georgia. After that, I moved to work for a law firm in Pittsburgh.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?:  I had always wanted to teach. When I was little, I used to line my stuffed animals up and play teacher. I started taking business classes in high school, and loved it! My father worked in business, so I’d follow him around. I really liked the business part, so junior year in high school I changed my mind, and decided to major in business. After I graduated, I really wanted to work with kids, so I was able to go back and get a Secondary Education  degree and teach business to students.

How long have you been here at North Penn?: I taught at a high school in Marietta, Georgia. I went in and out between teaching and business. I got a long term substitute position, and while  I was doing that, I went back to college. Then, I had a baby, so I took a year off from teaching, and went back to the law firm during that time. When my child was real young, I still had to finish up all my education courses, and I would go on nights and weekends. After all that, I taught in Atlanta for five years, then I moved to Pittsburgh. When I first moved there, I wasn’t able to get a teaching position, so I went back to the law firm. It was in and out over the years. The whole time I wanted to teach. I came to North Penn in 1994, so I have been here for 25 years. Overall, this is my 32nd year as a teacher.

hat made you want to become a teacher?: I just love kids. Had I gone that route, I think I would’ve been an elementary school teacher. That definitely would’ve been my plan. I’m Aunt Linda. I’m always the one at the kids table at the Christmas parties, the ones the kids hang on to. I have to tell you, my niece, when she was 4, gave me the biggest compliment I have ever received: she looked at me and said, “Aunt Linda, are you an adult, or are you a little kid?” I play with the kids, so she could see a big body, but I didn’t act like an adult. Huge compliment. With the business background, I ended up teaching business. I do think there is a big plan out there, I think other people than us know what we should be doing. I love teaching high school kids. I love running FBLA. I don’t know if I could’ve been an elementary school teacher for 32 years.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: A lot. They’ve changed a lot. North Penn has changed a lot. We are way more diverse, way more culturally aware. Of course, the technology has certainly changed a lot. The kids have a whole lot more at their fingertips than what they had before. In some ways, they’re the same. They still like to do a lot of the same things, it is just different in the way they get there. I also think in some cases,  we as educators shove some things down on the kids, which I think they may rather do it the way we did it back in the 90’s. We are all trying to progress and stay on top of things.

Do you ever regret becoming a teacher?: No. And I know this sounds very corny, but I had worked in the law firms, and I went back to school to become a teacher, and once I got my first teaching contract in Georgia, every day, I felt like I should go in there and thank the principal for hiring me. I really wanted to go every day and just say thank you so much. And then they paid me! That was like, wow! I can’t believe that! So, no, I have never felt like I go to work. I do FBLA, I do Knights Knutrition, I am the department chair, I work hard. A lot of hours, but I don’t regret anything. The kids keep me young.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?:

I have had several athletes select me as the one teacher during their school career that influenced them the most.  I then got to walk out on the baseball field and basketball court and wrestling mat with these students on Senior night.  I was so, so honored!!

Mrs. Alexis Parrish

What was your previous career?: I worked in finance. I worked on the largest private financial company in the world. I worked on their trading floor, doing statistical arbitrage, which is really computer automated trading. I did a couple different internships and co-ops there, and worker part time there while in college before I started working full time there. So I worked at that company for a total of about 7 years.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: I did not think that I was going to go into teaching. My undergraduate degree is in math, and I went to Drexel to do those co-ops, so I participated in the co-ops looking at the financial end and I actually worked for some class action lawsuits doing some accounting work. I thought I wanted to go down the finance/accounting route. So I didn’t think I wanted to be in teaching until I had been working for a couple years and realized that is where I wanted to go. I began to make the transition by tutoring in math to see if it would be a good fit, and as I was tutoring this girl, I enjoyed the experience. Then, just for fun, I took a class in the evenings in education to see if it was for sure where I wanted to go. It was, so I began to work on that part time, and after I had my first child, I went to grad school full time.

How long have you been here at North Penn?: I did my student teaching at Pennbrook, and then I came to the high school as a permanent per diem sub, which I did here for a few years. Then, I became a long term sub, and eventually I got a contract. I have been In the North Penn School DIstrict since January of 2011.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: I like working with students, and really helping them understand math. I do try to make math relatable and understandable, and make it applicable in the real world. I do have that business, real world experience, so I can really bring back to when we use things or when we might use things later in life in careers. I hope my students know that math really does go beyond these classroom walls.

Mr. Jason Curley

What was your previous career?: I was an industrial mechanic. I worked on the forklift, and with refrigeration equipment. I did that from about 1992-2002.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: It was never part of my plans until I turned about 25 or 26, then I started considering teaching as a profession. I went to college for the first time when I was 27 to get my degree in education.

How long have you been here at North Penn?: I worked for six months at Palisades High School, which was about 45 minutes from my house. Then North Penn hired over one the summer of 2007, and my commute got cut down to about 10 minutes.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: I think my favorite part is working with teenagers that haven’t truly enjoyed math in the past, and to get to see them enjoy it a little bit more, is rewarding. Even if they don’t leave class loving math, as long as they like it a little bit more, I’ll be happy.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: I think the biggest change has been how much time they spend on their cell phones, and the amount of time it takes to redirect students off of their cell phones. I think teenagers are still teenagers, they still have social events and things like that going on, but the cell phone has made them quieter conversationally, because they are conversing through social media.

How do you get students to appreciate and understand the real life uses of math?: I say, if a teenager can tell me right now what career they are going to do for the rest of their life, I will tell them, that’s a great thought, but it’s probably not accurate. I changed careers, and I expect every student in this high school to have at least two or three careers. They really don’t know when they’re going to use it. They could become engineers, even though that isn’t there goal right now, they might become teachers, they could be anything. The other way I get them to appreciate math is to say “That diploma you get when you graduate, it doesn’t mean that you know everything about Algebra 2, it just means you have the ability to learn, and you’ve shown the school that ability.”

What is your most memorable teaching experience?: Within a month of spending an immense amount of time, energy, and money, to change careers, I needed to explain to a female student why it was not appropriate to throw a tampon across the classroom to a fellow student. Even though it accidentally hit a boy in the head, she didn’t see why her actions were inappropriate. I will never forget that.

Mr. Brian Haley

What was your previous career?: “ I was a lawyer from 1985 through 1996.”

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: When I first went to college, I wanted to be a teacher. And then I got greedy and thought they didn’t make enough money, so I became a lawyer, and then after years of doing that, I decided it’s time to do something else.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: “Working with students, as opposed to working with other adults.”

How long have you been here at North Penn?: “ Since 1998. This is the only place I’ve ever taught. When I started, I was teaching Government, and I was doing World Cultures, which of course we don’t have anymore. Then, I went from Govt. and World Cultures to Govt. and ESL, and ESL American History. Then they got rid of that program, and then I took over the AP Govt. program. I have now been involved in that for 16 years. I have also done Competitive Govt., Contemporary Global Issues. Since the beginning, though, I have taught mostly seniors. I prefer to work with them because the maturity level is a little different than sophomores.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: The access and use of technology is probably the biggest change. But in terms of students being students, they haven’t changed. I did the same things when I was in school that students try to do today. There’s no big difference: students are what they are. Everybody’s different. I don’t think they’re any different. I think the stresses are different. Technology makes it different. The drugs and alcohol is much more prevalent now than when I was a teenager, which I think is a dangerous thing. But, did it not exist when I was in school? No, it existed, it was a problem, and it’s a problem now. The availability of the stuff is more prevalent.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?: I would say it’s the presidential conventions we do every four years. We put 1,000 kids into the auditorium and let them role play delegates to a nominating convention. We plan that out, and that’s a year long process, it’s essentially students, so students volunteer, and I teach them how to run it, and they run the whole program. I think that’s really awesome.

Mrs. Amy Hrinyak

What was your previous career?: I was a mechanical engineer. I did that first at a very small company in Atlanta, doing design for machines to remotely process chemical gas cylinders. So picture a cylinder of helium, but with dangerous chemicals inside. If the valves were too rusty to be safely opened, then we had machines that could remotely open them I worked at that company for about a year and a half.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: Later in life. My teachers in high school told me not to be a teacher, just because I guess in Tennessee it’s not that great of a money wise career. After a couple of engineering jobs didn’t work out, I got a job as a substitute teacher in Georgia, and I fell in love with it. The energy with the kids was so different than the energy in an office.

How long have you been here at North Penn?:  After I got married, my husband got a job in Lansdale, so we moved here. I took a chance and went back to school at Temple, and got my teaching certificate. North Penn is the only place where I have had a full time teaching job, and I have been here for 18 years now. This career certainly ‘clicked’ more than my first one.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: Everything now has to be instant. They don’t want to wait until the next day to get a question answered. They’ll email you or they will come by with a question, but when I first started, they’d just wait till class. They would rarely stay after school. Now, they want answers right away. The phones and the technology make everyone want more instant answers.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: The kids. The energy of the kids is much better. Every 45 minutes, I get a new group and a whole new vibe. The only thing I miss is being able to go out to lunch everyday.

Mr, Curt Reichwein

What was your previous career?: I worked in civil engineering for 13 years. I worked for a firm called Gannett Fleming that was based out of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. We designed everything from highways, bridges, railways, as well as municipal work where we worked on sewers, landfills, and other waste water type activities.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: When I was 6 years into my engineering career, I went back to school to get a second Bachelor’s Degree in teaching, particularly tech ed. I went to Millersville University, and upon graduation, I knew that I had my teaching degree and whatnot. I did my student teaching, but thought to myself, “I’m not quite ready to teach yet.”, so I went back to engineering. When my wife decided that we should start a family, she left her job as a cabinet maker and went to teach, and I left engineering and came to North Penn, figuring at that time that we could spend time with our children in the summers as they were growing up.   

How long have you been here at North Penn?: North Penn is my only full time teaching job, and this is my 21st year here.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: Oh my. There have been lots of changes in students since my arrival. When we first were getting into this, we certainly didn’t have the amount of computers we have now, and definitely not the Chromebooks. Certainly didn’t have the impact of the cell phone and the headphones. Student engagement has changed from the perspective of distractions. As my son’s college counselor said to him on our first meeting, he asked us to put our ‘weapons of mass distraction’ on the table. He put his phone down, and we stacked them all up. So there were 4 phones on the table and I had to laugh because I feel that man’s pain everyday with students and their phones in class. But students have changed because times have changed. Technology has impacted the way we learn, the way we teach, the way we research, the way we find reference material, the way we are inspired. Technology is a great thing, which is why I am a technology education teacher. But like everything, there is good and bad, but my job is to teach kids the good side of technology, and the impact that it can have on your future, and your career, how you can harness technology for great things, like the things it was intended for. Social Media: massive negative impact on our world. I have found more drawbacks than plus sides. It has changed the way that kids interact, or don’t interact with each other. But, by and large, the times have changed, and if you don’t change with them, then you’re falling behind. It is inherent in my position here, as a tech ed teacher, to keep up with the current times so that we can teach kids about technology and its uses.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: I have one of the greatest jobs ever. From the perspective of, I get to come to work, I get to hang out with a bunch of kids, and that keeps me young. I get to teach kids about things that they did not know about, that they get excited about learning, cause I am an elective teacher, so these kids learn things that they don’t necessarily learn in a traditional classroom. So I get to come to work, hang out with kids, play with all kinds of cool toys, and do fun things. It’s hard to call it work when it’s so much fun. That’s what keeps me in the game. I know that what I am going to do is to have a good time. I think that keeps it engaging for everybody.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?:  Well, there’s been so many experiences, because there’s been so many kids. When you look back on the things that we’ve done here just in tech ed, the changes that we’ve implemented here. I feel like, since we rolled out our engineering academy 20 years ago, there have been so many milestones that have come along, that it is really hard to select a single one. But I think probably the greatest thing was our first group of students that went through all the courses in our engineering program, and graduated, having taken all of those courses and learning so much. Seeing where they are going to schools, seeing kids go on to Penn State, and Ohio State, Villanova, Drexel, Temple, University of Pittsburgh, and knowing that they’re prepared and succeeding at very high levels. That was the start of the wave that we have continued to ride since that first wave of engineering students graduated.

Mr. Chris Frey

What was your previous career?: My previous full time career was an athletic trainer. My undergrad degree is in sports medicine, and I was the athletic trainer at West Chester University for a year, then I worked here at NPHS as an athletic trainer for about 7 years. Around my third year of doing that, I began teaching, so for a while, they were both my full time jobs. I have had a number of smaller part time jobs too. I run a pool in the country club, I was a bartender in Sea Isle City for 20 years, and I briefly trained to be a pro wrestler.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: As an athletic trainer, you have to be good at teaching kids to do exercise and rehab, and kind of simplifying big ideas. I remember doing it, and people saying, “Oh, you should be a teacher.” I did not initially want to be a teacher. I kind of just fell into it. My first job at West Chester, I got the job as athletic trainer, and literally, right as I was walking out of the interview, the guy said, “Oh yeah, you have to teach 3 classes.” I had no idea how to do that, because I had never taught a day in my life. And I was teaching people that were older than me, which was a little strange. That experience, when I came here, allowed me to pick up some extra money. I filled in half days, and then full days. I got to a point where I got married, my wife wanted to have kids, and teaching was a better fit that athletic training was.

How long have you been here at North Penn?:  First, I have to tell this story. It was a really weird experience, but the guy who was athletic director here before me actually went into the FBI, which was his life dream. He got in to the FBI academy, but he got delayed. Then, 9/11 happened, so they shut down the FBI academy, so he stayed here and taught classes as I was the athletic director. Around early December of 2001, the FBI academy was reopened, and he left very soon after that. The principal at that time had injured his back, and I had helped him with rehab, so he asked me to teach the classes that now had no teacher. They couldn’t find anyone else who was suited to teach that specific course, so I ended up staying there, and here I am.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: The people here are fantastic. Working with students keep you young. I have gotten involved in being a class advisor, helping plan proms and all sorts of different events. To work at a school this big and see all the stuff that goes on is great. I played some sports as a kid, but I was never involved with the play, the winter concerts, to see hundreds of kids in the chorus. Those are all things that keep you young. It is honestly the best part of this. Every year, there’s a new guy. You’re a sophomore, coming in, you’re signed up to do something extra, and you’re gonna leave, and there will be another new kid, that does the same thing, and it’s awesome to see that over and over. Maybe they will do better than you, maybe they’ll do not as good as you, but there’s always that influx of new people, new success stories, which is definitely one of the best parts of teaching.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?: The first thing that comes to mind is when I was the athletic trainer, and I was teaching, I remember the state championship that we were involved with for North Penn. I had been sick the entire week before, and I went to catholic high, so I was yet to grasp how much a state championship really meant. The game had gotten delayed because of snow, and the state championship had been moved, but I remember coming out on the field, and thinking that I never thought a high school could have that many people in the bleachers. It was in Hershey, it was snowing, it was freezing, and I had missed all the buildup to it, and I felt so much pride when I saw those packed stands.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: The easy answer is technology. But I think that students have gotten more creative, more innovative, but certainly different. When I first started here, I would say that most of the classes were basically the same way as when I was in school. You go into any class, and teachers will be putting notes on the board, kids are doing worksheets, textbooks open, and just in these last five years or so, everything seems different. Teachers are trying to create experiences so that kids can produce something or experience something. It is quite a change in how we approach teaching, and in how students approach being taught.

Mr. Ed Bovell

What was your previous career?: I did IT work for a couple different companies, and then, ultimately, I was in the U.S. Navy for 4 years, and did intelligence work for them.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?:  I never thought about teaching. I have worked in the district since 1997 doing IT work. After 8 years of doing that, my wife, who teaches at Pennfield, encouraged me to look into becoming a teacher. After she said that, I started thinking about how awesome that could be. So I decided to give that a shot, and went back to school to get my teaching certification, and kind of rolled right into teaching. Since I had already been working in the district for a number of years, the transition from IT to teaching wasn’t too difficult.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: It gives you a different dynamic. No class is exactly the same as the next. I see that throughout the years. Also, I enjoy getting to know the students on a different level at times, which makes the day go by faster when you have a good rapport with the students. I love when I get to see the light go off in students head when they finally grasp a difficult concept. When the students and I get along well, it makes the day go by so much faster. When I was going to school here around 1990, it was just a vastly different environment than it is now. I had to use a card catalog to look things up, I didn’t have a Chromebook.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: Technology is good and bad. I’d like to have more face-to-face time with he kids than see them diving into technology, which certainly happens more now than in the past.

What are the benefits of teaching a course that is so applicable in the real world?: Business touches just about every area of life.  One of the most applicable courses I teach is Personal Finance, I hope that the students take something away so they don’t fall into being in debt and having financial difficulties.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?:  One of my most memorable moments as a teacher was when a former student came back to visit me after they had graduated college. They thanked me for just being an understanding and caring teacher that really listened to them. They said that I had influenced them to work harder and follow their passion and that was exactly what they were doing with their life.

Mrs. Christine Peterson

What was your previous career?: I worked in the accounting department at Univest.

Has teaching always been on the back burner or did you decide to join the profession later in life?: No, I never thought about being a teacher. I just decided when I was working in accounting that I didn’t want to keep sitting at a desk all day. I wanted to do something different, but still loved accounting. Some friends of mine suggested that I start teaching it, so, obviously, I pursued that. I began to come here to NPHS and sit in on classes once a week, and loved it! And here I am.

What is your favorite part of teaching?: The kids. They make every day different. Whenever I come in, it is never the same experience that I had the day before. It’s always a new challenge.

How have students changed throughout your teaching career?: I think they have changed a lot because of technology. I think there was more interaction, or, I got to know my kids a little bit better a few years ago than I do now. There was definitely more personal interactions, now their heads are always down in the phones. I have the alma mater hanging in my rooms, and severals tudents have said they didn’t even know that we had one, because we used to have grade meetings once a week and sing the alma mater. In the past, there was a greater sense of community. Everyone is more detached now. But it isn’t all bad. Students are able to find more information much quicker than they could in the past.

What are the benefits of teaching a course that is so applicable in the real world?: I always tell my kids they are in the best spot. Most of my students are going to go to school to be a business major, and the kids here often have a leg up because our business/accounting programs are so good here. Kids come back all the time and say “I am so glad I took this class. It made college seem much easier.” The kids here at NP are lucky that we offer such a variety of courses. Every kid will have a credit card, every kid will have bills, every kid is going to have job, so what we teach truly is relatable and important to everyone.

What is your most memorable teaching experience?: I think my most memorable experience was being nominated as a teacher  of inspiration by a baseball player on the North Penn Baseball team.