In the history wing found to the left(if you’re looking from the inside out) of the main office there is a room belonging to one Mrs. Schlueter. She and her student teacher Mr. Arena, teach 9th grade history as well as history honors. She adds a whole new element to history with fun class activities and enthusiastic historical conversations making her one of my favorite teachers I’ve ever had.
For much of her childhood she wanted to be a teacher, she recalls playing school with her sisters and a desire to share the many interesting tales of history. However throughout college she wanted to enter the law profession but eventually she took a class that required watching a high school teacher in action. The experience reignited her previous passion about education and inspired her to make her dream of teaching history a reality.
Mr. Arena on the other hand didn’t truly know he wanted to be a teacher until late in high school. Initially he thought he wanted a career in sports management but after some reflection on his high school experiences he realized the impact a teacher can have.
“I’ve had some good teachers and bad teachers,” he said, “I’ve had science teachers whose classes I really liked despite not normally being a science guy and some bad social studies teachers.” He felt passionate about social studies and wanted to share that passion with students who normally wouldn’t enjoy history.
Both of them share the same philosophy of how history should be taught. When describing why she wanted to teach social studies Mrs. Schlueter explained that “History is full of stories…students remember stories.” This simple motto influences every single aspect of her teaching.
Instead of piles and piles of endless dull notes she mixes things up through activities and simple projects. I particularly recall one day where the entire block was solely dedicated to a simulation of the Silk Roads where groups competed to sell the most items while being unable to communicate through words. Not only did that simple rule make the activity far more engaging, it also told the story of how the merchants on the silk rod couldn’t communicate with one another due to their differences in language.
Mrs. Schlueter and Mr. Arena are both huge fans of travelling. Mrs. Schlueter has been to Canada, Mexico, Belize, Italy, Greece, and The Bahamas and Mr. Arena has been to Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, UAE, Singapore, Cambodia, and Thailand. Many of the places he’s been come from the opportunities provided due to his position with Nazareth University’s international office.
Mrs. Schlueter’s favorite country she’s been to is Greece due to the rich culture, food, and obviously history. Mr. Arena’s favorite was Cambodia because of how welcoming its people were as well as its history which includes relatively recent events that you can still see the ramifications of today.
As you can imagine, teaching history influences how both of them think about travelling. Mrs. Schlueter pointed out how it allows her to experience history first hand and lets her display before and after images with what historical places look like now. They both explained how it makes lessons more lively and interesting for the students. “It lets students make connections, kids can say ‘oh I’ve been there’ or ‘I’ve always wanted to go there,’” Mrs. Schlueter explained.
Just like teaching travelling has it’s up and downs, from vomiting during Pope Francis first ever Easter Mass in the Vatican (if you ever get the chance please ask Mrs. Schlueter about this) or grading a seemingly endless amount of essays just for students to “just look at the score and ignore the comments.” But they both also have incredible moments such as sightseeing in Santorini or working and connecting with students which according to Mrs. Schlueter is the most satisfying part of teaching.
