Ms. Vachino started as a shy, quiet kid who kept to herself; now she is easily the most high-energy and outgoing teacher I have ever had. She didn’t really become who we now know as Ms. Vachino until she “came out of her shell” in college.
As soon as you step into her class you can very quickly tell she has the same type of brain as we do. That is one of the reasons why she wanted to teach at Jemicy. “Who better to understand the struggle than someone who went through it”. Her teaching style is very unorthodox and that is how she wants it. Vachino says that she didn’t want to be “confined into public schools and close-minded people.” She lets us listen to music and even go to the gym during her class because she understands the purpose of skills class. This is a class where students shouldn’t feel any pressure or stress. It is when they can practice important skills, relax, get their work done, and be put in a good mood for the rest of the day. That is without a doubt the result of her class every day.
Before coming to Jemicy at the start of the school year, Ms. Vachino worked at three separate schools over the last seven years. She started out working with students with emotional disturbances. “When things went wrong kids literally started throwing desks. Those kids went through struggles no kid should ever go through.” She then moved on to teach kindergarten and then middle school. Crazily enough, when she was in kindergarten her teacher told her mom that she would never graduate high school. Not only did she graduate high school, but she is now teaching high school.
She has loved every place she has taught, but this is her favorite grade level so far. “The students actually see you as a role model and not as a parent type figure. They actually think you are cool.” When teaching younger students, kids usually think of teachers as just another person telling them what to do instead of that role model when they get older. “I don’t think you guys realize how fun you are to be around at this age. I feel like high school kids aren’t appreciated enough for who they are.” I couldn’t agree more. It seems like so many adults are so quick to dismiss any ideas that we have for the future because we are young, but as we get older our voices are getting louder and you see those ideas are being more appreciated and taken more seriously.
Despite teaching at Jemicy for only three months Ms. Vachino has already established herself as a very popular and well-known teacher. Aside from being the only realistic challenger to Mr. McKee for the title of loudest teacher in the school, her energy and positivity is contagious and fun to be around during 5th period every day.
MOOSE PRINTS 