features

West, David

By | Nov. 27, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

David West has taught Nation State Local Government at Montgomery Blair High School for the past nine years of his teaching career. West also taught at Seneca Valley High for four years and at Wooton High for one year. He chose to come to Blair because of the "especially friendly, motivated, and skilled teachers."

Templin, John

By | Nov. 26, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

What is it about talking to a teacher out of class that makes it so un-comfortable for a student? For the most part, students look at their teachers as people with whom they are forced to put up with everyday, whose names' begin with either mister, miss or misses and above all, are boring people who live at school. Without much probing, however, it becomes obvious that the teachers here at Montgomery Blair High School are in fact a colorful bunch.

Swaney, David

By | Nov. 26, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Though David L. Swaney has only been a part of the Montgomery Blair community since 1997, the NSL/ AP Comparative Government teacher has been able to find the diverse atmosphere that he had always wanted. Swaney was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he strived to make the best of the non- diverse environment that he wasn't truly content with.

Van, Leslie

By | Nov. 26, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Leslie Van, a Biology and Matter and Energy teacher at Montgomery Blair High School, sits at a large table at lunch with coworkers, munching on Cheez-its and telling jokes. She is young, outgoing, and spirited.

Harvey, Suzanne

By | Nov. 25, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Suzanne Harvey, a staff development at Montgomery Blair High School, grew up in Cecil County, Maryland. She was raised in the same house her father was born and died in. Harvey received her elementary education in a two-room school house. She was an intelligent child always ahead of her grade. She completed elementary school early but had to stay for the rest of fifth grade and was therefore assigned to help younger children having problems in reading or math. This helped her because, as she puts it,

Gibb, Robert Lynn

By | Nov. 25, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Similarities between Boys lacrosse and Girls soccer are few and far between, but one history teacher can bridge the gap. Robert Lynn Gibb coaches both of these teams, while also teaching SPARC US History and AP European History.

Smith, Kenneth

By | Nov. 25, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

The teacher with a gray sweater that reads MBHS in red letters keeps a smile on his face while he sits in his chair talking to one of his students in his classroom after school.

Zompa, Ailish

By | Nov. 25, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

ESOL teacher Ailish Zompa did not realize that she wanted to become a teacher until college. Even though her mother was a teacher, Zompa had always thought she would become a journalist. Luckily, she chose to teach instead. She is now an ESOL teacher at Blair and is very happy with the path her career has taken.

Waltz, Natalie Beth

By | Nov. 22, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Growing up in a small New England town, E.S.O.L. teacher Natalie Waltz had seen very little of the world. "It was very homogeneous; almost exclusively middle class and white," she commented on her hometown of Newtown, Connecticut. Waltz knew that she wanted to see the world and show it to others through teaching.

Blitz, Janice

By | Nov. 22, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Blitz has been an educator for as long as she could remember. "I've been teaching since I was four of five," she says.

Gonzalez, Dora

By | Nov. 22, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

In her next life, Blair Spanish teacher Dora Gonzalez wants to be a singer. That would be a shame, because she clearly has a passion for teaching. While she admits that singing would be more exciting "in some areas,” she says that teaching is her true calling.

Cohen, Franklin

By | Nov. 22, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Teaching for over thirty years has brought great happiness to math teacher Franklin Cohen. He still teaches the same energy and enthusiasm he had fresh out of college.

Freeman, Lansing

By | Nov. 20, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

NSL and Peace Studies teacher Lansing Freeman has trouble walking through the halls at Blair. Going from class to class takes a long time; students constantly stop him to say hello.

Lee, Jacob J.

By | Nov. 19, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Jacob Joseph Lee never met his parents. Foster parents took him in at 2 months old, changing his life for the better. As a teacher, Lee is inspired and determined to spread the kindness he had experienced in his youth to all his students.

Scott, Jake

By | Nov. 19, 2002, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

Jake Scott, 28, has been at Blair for five years in the math department teaching algebra, geometry and pre-calculus. In Scott's classroom students feel a type of relief because of his laid back approach toward teaching. If a person doesn't understand a certain aspect of what he is covering he will slow down in order to leave no one behind. Scott makes sure everyone is learning the material because he cares more about a person walking away with knowledge than having a bunch of unanswered questions.

AP discussion

By | Nov. 30, 1999, midnight | In Features »

Barrow, Pete

By | Dec. 31, 1969, 7 p.m. | In Teacher Feature »

Mr. Pete Barrow is now a math teacher at Montgomery Blair High School. However, he originally did not want to teach.

Gainous: ex-football star

By | Dec. 31, 1969, 7 p.m. | In Features »

Late in the fourth quarter in the 1965 Orange Bowl, a future Hall of Famer and world class sprinter for Florida A and M fields a punt and goes straight ahead, full speed. Boom! He runs into a brick wall.