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Written by Brian Lee
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 16:56 |
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After taking a semester-long leave of absence, Spanish teacher Jackie Muirhead has returned to Shorewood High School. After being substituted for the first semester by a long-term substitute, Lisa Ruhlen, Muirhead said “I’m very excited to come back.” Now as a full time teacher, she started teaching Spanish I, IV, and AP Spanish classes.During her leave, Muirhead traveled to Columbia where she adopted her son, Santiago. “When we first met, [Santiago] just looked at us in the eyes and smiled at us,” she recalls. Santiago, now 10 months-old, brings all the joy that this mother had wished for. “I was having the time of my life,” said Muirhead. Her happiness was evident as she explained her son’s favorite past time: imitating people’s coughs and laughs. Although she sincerely embraces the past five months, she said it’s time to get back to work. “I love my job. It’s been fun meeting with colleagues and running into my students,” she commented. Things will be different from last year however. For example, because she is now a mother, she “won’t be hanging around [at school] till six o’clock.” She also mentioned that “perhaps I am [she is] a more, well-rounded person” and that the experience has put things in perspective for her. Muirhead is not the only one excited for the new semester. Madeline Eisen, senior AP Spanish student, is looking forward to a fun, yet very challenging semester. “Señora Muirhead is a good teacher, so of course I wanted her back,” said Eisen. She added that she is looking forward especially to “her yoga breaks during class.” Amanda Armstrong, Junior Spanish student said she is glad to have Sra. Muirhead’s animated personality and teaching style back in class. The students understand that things will be different from now on. Armstrong expected a greatly increased workload with Muirhead. “The pace of the class will be a lot faster and a lot more rigorous,” said Armstrong. Eisen predicted that with Muirhead, “students will probably have more homework and the class will become more demanding,” whereas with Ruhlen, “she knew Spanish well, but I could tell she hadn’t dealt with high school students before.” Armstrong agreed with Eisen and said the class pace could have been faster. Nevertheless, they all agree that Ruhlen was a good substitute teacher. “When I met her, she was very professional and very dedicated,” commented Muirhead. Armstrong said “Ms. Ruhlen was really friendly and was very motivated to teach.” Ruhlen is now a full time Spanish teacher at Franklin High School – a task which many new teachers may not always achieve.
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