Eight new faculty members join the middle and high school

By KATE MILLER | Milton Independent Staff Writer

Both the Milton Junior High and Senior High School have welcomed
new faculty members, all of whom are kicking off their first year in the
Milton district:

Gloria Crowe Gloria Crowe joined the middle school as a special educator while finishing her Master’s at Johnson State College. She decided to go back to school to pursue her teaching degree after spending time in her children’s school as a volunteer and substitute teacher. Crowe discovered that she had a heart for students with special needs during her student teaching work. “My favorite class was (one with many) students with behavioral issues. I realized that’s what I really wanted to do,” she said. Crowe also whole-heartedly supports differentiated instruction, or teaching to each student’s individual way of learning. “Instead of looking at students’ weaknesses, it’s focusing on their strengths,” Crowe said.	Paul Curtiss The junior high school now has a drama teacher and drama club leader with the addition of Massachusetts native Paul Curtiss. After spending time in the theater community in St. Paul, Minn., during his undergraduate work, Curtiss finished his graduate studies at St. Michael’s College. He started helping the production and choreography of Milton High School’s Spirit Night, which led to him landing a job as the new drama director. “I love the Milton community, and I love that there’s a real passion and support for theater here,” Curtiss said. “Some communities don’t have that. It’s nice to see people value the arts.”
Andrew Gestrich As the new language arts teacher, Andrew Gestrich is introducing seventh and eighth-graders to different short stories and novels, while exploring the reasons why people read and write. The Florida native studied at Bowdoin College in Maine for his degree, and landed the job in Milton after relocating to the Vermont area. Gestrich said he enjoys teaching the exchange of ideas that happen with reading and writing, particularly to middle schoolers. “It’s fun to help them discover the things that are important,” Gestrich said. “Teaching is a great chance to know them, to guide them, and advise them.”	Jason Gorczyk Jason Gorczyk is the newest history and social studies teacher at the high school, but his love of world cultures isn’t contained to the classroom. The Montpelier native has spent years traveling around the world, in addition to earning his undergraduate degree at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. Gorczyk returned to the Vermont area to complete the Masters program at the Univrsity of Vermont. Soon after, he was hired in Milton where he teaches both World and U.S. History. He enjoys teaching the high school age group, where kids are coming into their own and finding out who they are and the things they like. “History is all about people, who they were 5,000 years ago, 500 years ago, and today, and the similarities that exist between them,” Gorczyk said.
John-Paul Lavoie A Master’s program at the University of Vermont also brought John-Paul Lavoie to Vermont, after which he was hired as Milton High School’s newest physics and chemistry teacher. Lavoie, a native of the Boston area, teaches ninth grade physics, as well as a chemistry class for grades 10, 11, and 12. “The interesting thing about physics is that it’s relevant to just about everything, and explains how everything works,” Lavoie said. Part of the fun of teaching science is the hands-on learning, Lavoie said. His freshman students are about to embark on a project to build and test rockets. “That’s the big project coming up,” Lavoie said with a smile.	Jennifer Miller The junior/senior high school’s library and media center has a new leader at the helm – Jennifer Miller. Miller is a native of the Berlin area of Vermont, and finished her Masters in library science at the University of Rhode Island. Miller said the Milton School District’s mission, particularly connecting with the community, appealed to her. She happened to visit the school on Mosaic Day, one of the biggest community/school events of the year. “It was also my intent to work in a middle school/high school, and I felt like Milton was a really good match,” Miller said. In addition to her plans of beefing up both the new fiction and non-fiction collection, Miller will also be promoting literacy through book discussions and collaborating with teachers on their academic units.
Joshua Roof Joshua Roof is the junior high school’s newest English teacher. He grew up in Woodstock, Vt., and earned his Bachelor’s at St. Michael’s College and his graduate degree at UVM. He has taught in a few schools before, but Milton is his first job as a licensed teacher in a public school. Roof said that while it’s a challenge to find exciting and interesting reading material that each student can invest in, he enjoys teaching junior high school students. "I love the students’ energy and enthusiasm,” Roof said. “They can do anything and their spirit is infectious.”	Maria Ung Essex native Maria Ung is teaching science to both seventh and eighth graders. The St. Michael’s College graduate spent three years teaching high school science in Rochester, Vt., and moved back north to be closer to family. "Everyone’s been really welcoming. Milton has a great faculty and staff,” Ung said. "I’ve worked with high school students in the past, and I’m excited to work with middle school students,” Ung said. “They’re full of energy and I think that’s great.” Ung plans on channeling that energy of middle school students into hands-on learning of science throughout the year.