By: Ami R., Ishan J., Logan S., Mason P., Sid A., and Yash P.
Ms. Grimmer is a 7th-grade Humanities LED at Design39Campus. 7th graders tend to be independent, so she enjoys teaching them because they are creative and can go with the flow. 7th graders are also mature enough to give her the ability to joke with them. This is because they take it as a joke whereas younger kids might take it personally. Ms. Grimmer has a Bachelor’s in Art and wanted to teach an art-related subject. This pushed her into the Humanities field of teaching. Adding on, she used to offer swim lessons to younger kids, where she discovered her love of working with kids. She figured that if she could instruct younger kids, she could teach older kids, too. Ms. Grimmer loves long-distance running. She goes to sleep at 7 pm so she can get up to run at 3 am! Ms. Grimmer loves teaching to the point where you could say it’s her dream job.
Mr. Fitzpatrick is a 7th-grade LED at Design39Campus. He likes to teach 7th grade because of the kids and their personalities. He decided to teach 7th grade because an opportunity arose for him to teach both 6th and 7th grade, as he was teaching 6th grade before. He thought it would be cool to teach both grades, as his 6th graders would loop with him to 7th grade. He also likes the 7th-grade Social Studies curriculum. His advice to students coming into 7th grade is to put your best efforts into your learning from the beginning. The best way to not fall behind, is to not fall behind. And, be sure to ask for help. We are here to do just that. His favorite part of the school year is the beginning because everything is fresh and new, and excitement levels are high. He has been teaching for 29 years. Mr. Fitz was inspired to teach when he taught at an at-risk kids’ high school and he enjoyed it. He ended up working there for five years. He then went to get his credential for teaching in public schools. On a homework scale of 1-10, he likes to give a 3, as he believes that homework is practice time and he says that the expectation is you are putting as much effort into your practice as you need if you want to get the grade you want. His favorite thing to do outside of school is to ski. Other than that, he likes to spend time with his friends and family.
Ms. Ruppert is a 7th-grade STEM LED. Starting with the students, she loves their personalities along with their awkwardness. She enjoys teaching 7th grade because the students are old enough to understand what is right and what is wrong. In addition, they are mature enough to understand complex things. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing the students’ personalities. She has been teaching for 6 years and has taught from 2nd to 7th grade. She decided to transition to working with older students as they understand her humor. Ms. Ruppert looks forward to the end of the year since that is the time that she understands each student the most, and can have the most fun, too. She recommends incoming 7th graders understand that they are going to be challenged, but they’re going to have a lot of fun, too! When Ms. Ruppert isn’t in the classroom, she loves being outdoors. In the winter, she usually snowboards. In the summer, she likes to be at the beach with her dog, Ted.
Ms. DiGiovanna (Ms. Digi) is a 7th-grade STEM LED. She loves 7th-grade students because they are at the perfect age where they are old enough to have honest conversations but they are young enough where they are still excited about school. She has been teaching for almost 9 years and was inspired to teach because of her family of teachers, including her mom, cousins, grandfather, and many aunts. Eventually, she became a snowboarding instructor and that solidified her love for teaching. Ms. DiGi looks forward to the second half of the year because the students have had the first semester to figure out what the 7th-grade expectations are. Then, in the second semester, the teachers can go in-depth with more complicated things. Ms. DiGi recommends incoming 7th graders be comfortable with advocating for themselves and talking to their LEDs about anything help they need. When Ms. DiGi isn’t in the classroom, she loves going to amusement parks with friends and family.
