Summer photo story: teachers have lives too

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Residing on top of the Gramercy Hotel in Tokyo, Godzilla seems quite content. (Photo submitted by Mrs. Porges)

“This summer was actually pretty interesting. Going to Washington, DC with NHD was kind of a working holiday, but it was out of town. We went to Japan this summer for just under three weeks. Then my son and I went to San Diego for Comic-Con. (He went; I visited family) and then to LA where we did touristy things. The last trip was to New Hampshire. Now that I’m home and summer is over, I feel it was much too short.”

Mrs. Leslie Porges, Honors Civics

 

 

 

“My summer has not been crazy exciting. It has really been a summer to recharge. It has been dedicated to spending time with my family and friends. My kids did not go to summer camp this year, so I got to spend every day with them. I have spent a lot of time having fun with them: at the beach, water parks, making a mess with my kids while cooking, hanging out with friends, going to movie nights at the park and art walks with them. It has been nice and also crazy at times to spend so much time with them. I think I have really discovered and shown my kids some great places in South Florida.

I have also spent time reading some wonderful books. Of course, I have spent a lot of my summer working on my classes, re-working activities, finding new material to introduce to students, thinking about the effectiveness of the assessments. I have reorganized my classes and created new lessons to introduce to students.”

– Dr. Gabriela Zaviezo, Spanish IV Honors and French I Honors

 

“I started the summer at the official College Board reading and scoring of AP English Language and Composition essays. I spent seven days almost non-stop scoring.

Then, I went to Spain. My son Lucas attended a summer program there in Alicante, and I dropped him off, then traveled with family and friends. I visited Valencia, Alicante, Madrid and Córdoba.

Right now, [August 3] I am writing letters of recommendation for juniors. I have finished 48 out of the 60 I have to do. Saturday [August 4], I [left] with my entire family on a five-day cruise, the highlight of which [was] a two-day visit of Havana, Cuba.”

– Mrs. Dina Amata, AP Language and Composition

Mrs. Milam and Mr. Mark Gruskin present their Model UN PowerPoint, created with the help of Shirley Wong, to fellow APUSH teachers. (Photo submitted by Mrs. Milam)

“June 2 I flew to Salt Lake City to grade AP World essays. This year, like most years, I graded the ‘dreaded’ DBQ. Whew! All the exams were graded by June 10, and I flew back to Ft. Lauderdale.

Mr. Gruskin and I attended the national AP Conference in Houston (APAC 2018) from July 18-22. At the conference we both attended workshops in the AP subjects we teach. However, we were invited by AP to present to the other AP teachers our workshop on using ‘Model UN Crisis Committees in AP History.’ For me, that’s MILAMUN. This was our first presentation, and it was a great experience. It was very well received.

We are both very proud to represent American Heritage in Houston at APAC, and I want to thank my students for giving me a great MILAMUN to share in Houston!”
– Mrs. Marjorie Milam, AP World History and AP U.S. History

 

Oregon’s Crater Lake provides the best of both worlds with the cool snow of winter complementing the heat of summer. (Photo/Mrs. Gregor)

“I spent a while in Oregon, where I visited Crater Lake and drove up the Oregon coast, and Washington, where I hiked Beacon Rock. I also snuck a few kayaking trips in the Keys — my favorite.”

– Mrs. Dawn Gregor, Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry

Kristen is a Cuban American senior at American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Patriot Post, President of Student Government and co-founder of the non-profit Friends for Fosters. Kristen loves keeping up with politics, watching Netflix, reading and sleeping in. She considers herself a nerd due to her massive video game and comic collection.