Most of the time students don’t know their teachers outside of the classroom. Some teachers may say a few facts about themselves on the first day of school, but that doesn’t let students truly get to know them. By learning about their teachers, students can form a better mentoring bond, and enjoy going to their classes more.

Kenya Patzer: (Science)

Were you interested in another career before education?
“I always assumed I’d be a professional musician. But when I graduated the economy was in a slump and orchestras weren’t hiring. So I started working for the State Fire Marshal’s Office and joined a volunteer fire department. I became a certified firefighter, hazmat technician, and EMT. I was a volunteer firefighter for five years.”

What’s your favorite class you teach? Why is this your favorite?
“I love teaching AP Physics 1. In college, I really struggled with college-level physics. It just wasn’t intuitive for me. That’s why I love teaching it — I know where I struggled, I know how hard I had to work to learn it, and it’s easy for me to understand where students get frustrated and how to get them unstuck. I think I’m really good at finding all sorts of different ways to approach concepts and problems. If one way doesn’t work, we’ll find another way! I absolutely love the ‘a-ha’ moment, where students suddenly understand a concept or a skill.”

What are some of your hobbies outside of school?
“I’m Associate Concertmaster of Topeka Symphony and Concertmaster of Lawrence Community Orchestra. I also do a lot of collaborative violin/piano performances with a local pianist, and that includes some composing and arranging. I’m trying to finish up a Doctor of Education degree, so that’s eating up a lot of time. I really enjoy knitting socks and I wish I had time to read more books.”

Dustin Rimmey: (Social Studies)

Were you interested in another career before education?
“It was clear debate/forensics was my passion in addition to working in a kitchen. Therefore, I knew I had one of three options that sounded palatable for college: Culinary School, Law School, or becoming a teacher. I decided against Culinary school because even though I loved cooking and wanted to go pro, I knew I wanted to have a family down the road, and the late nights/hours of a kitchen I knew that may not be the best option. Law school quickly went out the window because I knew I would run into serious ethical challenges having to defend someone if I didn’t agree with what was going on. Teaching, I knew was a serious route for me to go as I spent a large amount of time as a peer tutor throughout high school (and college) and really enjoyed that path.”

What are some of your hobbies outside of school?
“For about the last two years, I’ve been getting back into seriously reading and collecting comic books, as well as a growing Funko pop collection. When the lockdown started, and school became pretty much optional last year, to fill my time I started spending more time on my blog and created a youtube channel where I review comics, Funkos, and other random pop culture items. That has helped fill a creative void for me, and I’ve gotten to interview a lot of my favorite artists and authors in addition to meeting swaths of new people in livestreams etc.”

What’s your favorite class you teach? Why is this your favorite?
“My favorite class may be my debate and forensics classes only because that is something I fell in love with as an awkward 13 year old, and it had such a large imprint on making me who I am. However, I also LOVE teaching government and comparative government because I feel like I can be neutral enough to my students in helping them navigate rough political waters without making my classroom a bully pulpit. It’s fun to push people into thinking about or arguing about things which may be wholly new to them.”