New staff members arrive at TOHS: Heather Austin
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September 6, 2011 • Cassie Nunes, Staff Writer
Filed under Features
After 13 years of teaching, the talents of English teacher Heather Austin have made their way to the classroom of I-6.
She has taught at Redwood Middle School, John Adams Middle School and Meisler Middle School in New Orleans. In all of her teaching experience, she has only taught eighth grade English. This year will be her second year here, but it will be her first year working here full-time. Last year, she taught two classes in the morning at the high school and three classes at Redwood.
“Having a split schedule let me discover the world of high school teaching and made me realize that I love it,” she said. “The good news about having jobs at TOHS and at Redwood was I got to get Starbucks every day on my way to Redwood. It was bad financially, but good for the soul.” She believes that her time she spent teaching high school was what really led her to decide on switching to an older crowd of students. To Austin, leaving Redwood is tough but exciting.
“It’s bittersweet because moving schools meant I had to leave my closest friends,” she said. “But, in my opinion just because something is scary doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”
Austin has never taught high school before and her expectations are high.
“I’d like to challenge myself as a teacher,” she said. This year, the school opened up three opportunities, and Austin made sure to take advantage of the situation.
The campus is full of her previous students, many of which have already met her with excitement.
“I’m excited she’s here,” freshman Jacob Masci said. He is a student from her Redwood eighth grade English class who describes her as nice, helpful and fun.
Austin looks forward to not only a new curriculum, challenges and the school year, but also seeing new and old students grow.
“It makes me smile to see my students. It’s amazing to see them grow as individuals,” she said, “minus the beards and excessive height.”
Masci looks forward to another class with Austin as unique as last year.
“One day, during one of the last days of school, she put on music and told us to paint. You had to paint whatever the music made you feel,” he said.
Austin firmly believes that her classes are more than just that, they are families, and she strives to establish a community environment. Her room reflects her idea. Bright colors, examples of nature and intriguing quotes on the wall with groups of desks scattered over the room suggest that Austin is different from most.
“The staff was like, ‘We are so glad you’re here full-time now,’” she said. “‘We love you. Can we hire you to decorate our rooms, too?’”
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