NS New Teachers Opinions

New Teachers’ Opinions- What do they have to say?

Here at Valley Stream North, it is crucial to provide a welcoming environment to everyone, whether we are speaking to young seventh graders, or teachers who have been here since yearbooks were printed in black and white. I got the opportunity to interview three new teachers here at Valley Stream North: Mr. Mounce, Ms. Enella, and the new head of the language department, Mrs. Gallegos. 

Mr. Mounce, ELL

What inspired you to become a teacher?

Mr. Mounce: “I think like a lot of teachers, I’ve had a lot of teachers in my life that inspired me to want to become an educator. I can think back to my high school life and a lot of teachers that I still keep in touch with, and they’ve impacted my life in ways that I would like to do for the next generation of students. I have also always had a passion for sharing things I’m interested in and teaching always seemed like a good fit for me.” 

Why did you choose ELL?

Mr. Mounce: “So for me, I’ve always had an interest in language. Growing up, my mom spoke Greek and though I never learned to speak it, I think it made me become more interested in language and how we communicate with each other. I studied linguistics in college and my passion for language along with my interest in education made me believe that being an ELL teacher would be a great fit for me.”

What has been your favorite part about working at Valley Stream North so far?

Mr. Mounce: “My favorite part is the people. Everybody I’ve met has been very helpful and friendly and I can’t wait to meet even more people and make many friends along the way.” 

Ms. Enella, Social Studies 

What are your expectations for this school year? 

Ms. Enella: “My expectations for the school year is to continue to learn and grow in this profession and to continue to establish myself here at north, become more involved in the community and at the school.” 

Why did you choose History? 

Ms. Enella: “I chose history because I think it’s very valuable knowledge for people to have and I really want to show that to my students. It’s important to have context to be a knowledgeable person or citizen here and personally I just think it’s very interesting to see how we came from very basic beginnings and have established society thus far.” 

What inspired you to become a teacher? 

Ms. Enella: “I’d always really liked social studies, and I’ve always worked with children, so once I was thinking about college, it kind of just made sense to combine both of them. There's a lot of benefits that come with teaching, you get summers off and it’s a good stable career.” 

Mrs. Gallegos, World Language Dept. Chair 

Why did you choose World Language? 

Mrs. Gallegos: “I love languages, and I think it’s not just the language that I love, it’s the cultures that come with the languages. You learn the words, you learn the expressions, but you don’t really learn them until you know the culture. I just think it’s so interesting how people who move to the United States find people who also speak their same language or have their same culture, and I think what languages do, is they bring common ground. I feel like languages have a human effect that brings people together.” 

Is this your first teaching job? 

Mrs. Gallegos: “I’ve been in education for 25 years; I actually started my public-school teaching career at Memorial. It’s very cool to be back in Valley Stream because I think Valley Stream is a special place.” 

What inspired you to become a teacher? 

Mrs. Gallegos: “I had no intention of becoming a teacher. I was actually studying to become a broadcast journalist and while I was doing my internship at a TV station, I received a call from a friend of mine asking if I could teach Italian at a private elementary school because their teacher had suddenly left, and I said yes and I fell in love with teaching. And so, after I graduated, I went back to school for my master’s to get my certification to become a teacher.” 

North Star would like to offer a warm welcome to our new teachers!