What are your top 3 favorite movies? C: The Replacements, For Love of the Game, and Rocky
If you weren't a teacher what would you be ? C:a carpenter
Who is your most annoying student? C: Ms. Giusti was and will always be my most annoying student ever! (J/k- she was one of my best!)
If you had to choose one food to eat for the rest of your life what would it be? C:peanut butter
Who is your favorite child? C: no comment
What is your favorite thing about your job? C:never left school meaning never left maple wood
What is your favorite experiment to do? C: egg in a bottle STINKY!!!
What is your biggest pet peeve? C: excuses
What is the most annoying thing about other teachers? C: no comment
If there was a zombie apocalypse what would be your first course of action? C: to use my students for protection
What is the most important job in your opinion? C: space exploration.
What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you? C: I married the girl who used to bully me in HS
What is the dumbest question someone has asked you? C: How tall do I weigh
Do you like your job and why? C: I love my job because I’m home and i love my students
What is your #1 rule in life? C: control what YOU can control
What is the most important thing you find in a friendship? C:empathy
What is your dream vacation? C: Hawaii
What is your favorite sport? C: Baseball
If you had to choose between your dream vacation or your dream house, which one would you choose? C: Dream house
Who's your favorite student? C: Frida Sanchez
Ms. Chilimintris Hello and welcome back to teacher spotlight, the column where we interview teachers and learn more about them! Today’s section of teacher spotlight is featuring Ms. Chilimintris, the orchestra teacher here at Maplewood Middle School. Eloise M. 2/14/23
What is your favorite day of the week?
I like Fridays.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Tahiti because it is in the south pacific and has a calm energy and people are very nice.
Why did you choose to be an orchestra teacher?
I really like guiding students to develop their own awesome instrument skills.
If you could only bring one thing with you to a deserted island, what would it be?
Oh no um I can't take my violin because that would just break within a day…uhm…a towel!
What is your favorite musical note?
C sharp.
Do you collect anything?
Oh yes! Um, I collect crystals, scarves, pens, and notebooks.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Probably still teaching.
What is your zodiac sign?
*gasps* I'm a Sagittarius.
What is the most exciting thing you can see out of your window?
Oh you know what? The sky. I like to sit and look at the sky.
Do you have any pets?
No, unfortunately.
Have you ever tasted play-doh?
Yes, I have tasted play doh. (she did not like it)
If you had to lose an arm or a leg, which one would you choose?
*gasps* a leg. Oh no but I love walking.. Oh but I could play instruments!
If you were given the opportunity to travel back in time, would you take it? Why or why not?
I would go back but I wouldn’t change anything.
Lastly, what is one thing you would like everybody reading the school newspaper to hear?
Don’t worry, it gets better.
That’s it for Ms. Chilimintris! I think we all learned something new about her today! Thanks Ms. Chilimintris for being one of the nicest teachers ever and always being so awesome!
Mr. Rodriguez By Emma Pun
Welcome to teacher spotlight, where we interview our amazing teachers and ask them weird questions, like what their worst pet peeve is. Here are 15 questions asked to Mr. Rodriguez, a 6th grade ELA teacher here at MMS:
1. How long have you taught at MMS?
I student taught in 2021 and then I got hired in 2022.
2. If you could choose a profession other than teaching, what would you choose?
That’s so hard. I think I would choose to be maybe a musician so I could be on stage and interact with the crowd and have fun.
3. What is your worst pet peeve?
I have a few pet peeves, but the worst is when people chew their food loudly. I hate that. That’s the worst.
4. If you could make a TED talk, what would you speak about?
That’s hard! I would make a TED talk on ways to donate food and to help people avoid being hungry. I guess just to spread the word on homelessness and hungry people.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I do love New Jersey, and I do love New York, so I think I would stay here, but I would like to go on vacation to tropical islands a lot.
6. What is your favorite word?
Bubble.
7. What is your least favorite word?
Piggyback.8. If given a chance, what about the 6th grade ELA curriculum would you most like to change?
Us reading books together. I’d like to read books with the whole class. I like seeing people’s reactions to it, and having class discussions.
9. Is there one book or movie that you think everyone should read/watch at least once?
The book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
10. What type of animal would you most like to be, and why?
I think if I could choose to be an animal, I would choose to be a dog.
11. Do you have a favorite accent?
Australian. And the Brooklyn accent is cool too.
12. If you could go backwards or forwards in time, which would you choose and why?
Wow. I don’t know. If I had to choose, I’d want to go backwards in time. I’d want to see how my parents were, how my grandparents were, and maybe how I was as a little kid. Going forward is too scary.
13. What about ELA as a subject do you think is underrated?
I think ELA is hard because we have to compete with video games and videos. I think books are becoming underrated. I’d like kids to read more. A lot of kids spend time watching Netflix, and I’d like them to find more entertainment in r reading.
14. If given the chance to have lunch with Batman or Aaron Judge, which one would you choose? (For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Rodriguez is a huge Batman and Yankees fan!)
Ooh. Oh this one’s hard. I think I would choose Aaron Judge. I’d want to hear his plans, what he wants to bring to New York.
15. If you could tell your students one thing, what would you like to tell them? If I could tell my students one thing, it would be don’t be afraid to be yourself. Oftentimes at this age, you get influenced by things that aren’t important. I think the best thing I could tell my students would be to be you for you.
…And that is Mr. Rodriguez! Batman lover, Yankee fan and awesome ELA teacher. Thanks so much Mr. Rodriguez!
Ms. Sousa By Emma Pun 1/5/23
Welcome to teacher spotlight, where we interview our amazing teachers and ask them weird questions, like what their favorite accent is. Here are 15 questions asked to Ms. Sousa, a 6th grade math teacher here at MMS:
How long have you taught at MMS?
5 years.
If you could choose a profession other than teaching, what would you choose?
I would like to work in the theory of mathematics. If I wasn’t a teacher, I would have liked to go more into research.
What is your favorite TV show/Movie?
This is gonna be super nerdy, but I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
What is your worst pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve is mostly when I’m driving. It’s mostly when they don’t follow the rules quick enough, like slow turns.
If you could make a TED talk, what would you speak about?
*Gasp* I would make it where we could finally try to transition from thinking of math as a computation, but as a language. For example, if we taught fractions as vocabulary, kindergarteners could add fractions. It’s just clearer.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Iceland. Easy, Iceland.
Have you taught grades other than 6th before, and if you have, do you have a favorite grade to teach?
I have taught 5th and 7th. My favorite curriculum? 7th. But my favorite age, 6th.
What is your favorite way to spend time?
When I’m home, I like to play with my dog. His name is Wyatt. He’s crazy. Honestly, I like to just go for a walk. And I like to hang out and watch Netflix.
What is your favorite word?
Chaos.
What is your least favorite word?
Rule. Rules or rule.
What about math as a subject do you think is underrated?
I think it should be a specialized subject. I think there should be electives where you can choose different types of math.
What type of animal would you most like to be, and why?
A dog because I get to sleep all the time.
Do you have a favorite accent?
I like a midwestern accent. *Laughs* Like people from Ohio or Wisconsin.
If you could go backwards or forwards in time, what age would you most like to be?
I would like to go forward in time to when I’m 60. I want to see if I did a good job. I want to see if I ever changed someone I taught.
If you could tell your students one thing, what would you like to tell them?
Believe in themselves.
…And that’s Ms. Sousa! Lord of the Rings fan, dog lover and math teacher extraordinaire. Thank you so much Ms. Sousa for being such an amazing teacher!
Mr. Terenzi by Beckett Meda 1.25.2022 Have you ever wondered certain things about our wonderful MMS staff? Like what their favorite part of teaching is? Or what their favorite instrument is? Welcome to teacher spotlight! Teacher spotlight is where newspaper writers like me go and interview members of the MMS staff so we can learn more about them. Today you'll read the 15 questions that one of our 6th grade science teachers, Mr. Terenzi, answered. Now, no more waiting... let's get to it!
1. What is your favorite part of teaching?
"I love when I see a light bulb go off on the top of a kids head after they have made a connection that was previously invisible. I also love when I hear from a former student who is in, or has graduated from, college. It restores my faith in mankind." 2. What subject would you teach other than science?
"I would love to teach art but I can't draw. I would love to teach music but I can’t hold a note. I guess it would be language arts because I also love to write."
3. What's your favorite instrument?
"The mouth harp because it has no strings or mouthpiece and I like the twangy sound it makes."
4. What's your strangest phobia?
"I have a mild case of gephyrophobia (pronounced jeff-i-ro-fo-bia). It's fear of bridges. Specifically, I fear the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. It connects Staten Island to Brooklyn and is the longest suspension bridge in the country. Problem is, when the Belt Parkway backs up onto the bridge, which is often, the bridge starts to bounce from all the idling cars and it is very scary."
5. What's your favorite word?
"Thanks."
6. What's your favorite phrase?
"'Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.' It is a high school yearbook quote from a friend who died in a drunken-driving car crash right after graduation. Jonathan was the first real genius I ever met and he taught me a lot of non-school stuff. He also introduced me to Franz Kafka and National Lampoon."
7. What was your favorite part of virtual school?
"The refrigerator."
8. What was your least favorite part of virtual school?
"The refrigerator."
9. What was your favorite part of 2021?
"One of my daughters got married. And, we got a dog."
10. What are you hoping to see in 2022?
"I'm hoping the pendulum swings back to where we focus more on our many commonalities instead of what separates us."
11. If not school where would you be?
"Roaming around the Badlands of South Dakota. It is one of my most favorite places in the world."
12. What is your dream job?
"Park Ranger at the Badlands National Park."
13. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
"Enchanting! No, just kidding. How about adaptable?"
14. What's your favorite animal?
"Even though they are weasels, and we don't like weasels, it would be the sea otter."
15. What do you think is one way we can make the school better?
"More laughter. (That goes for any place.)"
Well, that was Mr. Terenzi for ya! I think we learned a lot about him, and even though he wants to be in the Badlands, I think we’re all glad he’s here teaching us science the way he does, weasel-lover or not.