This year, Noelle Lowther is retiring from Morton East as a student teacher with hopes of getting a full-time teaching position in our district or a similar one. 

Ms. Lowther taught at Morton for 5 months. During that time, she taught journalism. This semester, she was a teacher in Mr. Frankfother’s classes. 

How was your experience teaching teenagers? Was it hard?  

“I loved working with seniors and juniors in journalism. It was hard yes I think because of the pandemic and not being able to see a lot of my students, but each class was very polite and hardworking. Working with reporters made me realize even more that I want to teach older students. I am going to miss my reporters!” said Ms. Lowther. 

Your favorite memory that you had while you were teaching?  

“I think the main memory that is a favorite is our CNN 10 shout-out from Carl Azuz. I didn’t know we got that and it was cool to hear it in the real time. It was certainly a surprise and I loved that my classes were working and commenting on the channel videos for a chance at the shout-out.” said Ms. Lowther. 

What did you learn?  

“I learned a lot from my experience this semester. Mr. Frankfother, Mr. Asay, and other teachers in the English department have been awesome and welcomed me! I learned the importance of flexibility and truly understanding my students. I also learned (even more) that I want to teach classes like journalism/newspaper because student and community voice matters! Mr. Frankfother has been a great mentor and I can’t thank him enough!” said Ms. Lowther  

For any new teachers that will be experiencing what you experienced what will you tell them? Any tricks, tips? 

“Be yourself! Sounds corny but really is key. I would also say don’t be scared to try new things. I now know better what I like to focus on and how I want to teach because I tried new things and made mistakes! I am also able to reflect on my teaching this semester to revise for when I might teach something again, so that has been very important to me.” said Ms. Lowther 

Do you think you had enough experience for when you start teaching?  

“I am very lucky to have been placed at Morton East. Some of my classmates will be student teaching in the fall rather than this past spring like me so I am very grateful to have been a Mustang for a little. Before student teaching, I had other, smaller teaching experiences that prepared me for this one. I feel pretty prepared as I have taught my reporters in remote, hybrid, and now in person. I am excited to see where I will be teaching next year!” said Ms. Lowther  

Ms. Lowther was always happy and making our class super fun. Congratulations on your retirement. Morton East will miss you.