Mrs. Svoboda is a teacher at Andale Middle School for 6th-8th grade Science. This is Svoboda’s third year teaching and her first at Andale. Before coming to Andale she was a teacher at Conway Springs Middle School. This week I asked Mrs. Svoboda some questions about her job and high school experience at Andale. My first question was “what got you into teaching,” Svoboda said she originally wanted to be a physical therapist because she loved learning about how the body works. In college she got a job as a para and fell in love with teaching so she decided to study biology, one of the reasons she became a teacher is her science teacher that she had in high school, James Gregg, who she said was a great inspiration.
Mrs. Svoboda isn’t just teaching this year she’s also coaches high jump and pole vault for Andale Middle School. Svoboda said she loves coaching track because the season is so enjoyable, and it’s rewarding to watch all the kids achieve personal goals, surpass their individual goals and contribute to the team. This was also Svoboda’s first year coaching robotics in the fall. She said it was an awesome experience and loved watching the kids come up with innovative ideas while building robots. Svoboda was also impressed with how students dealt with the challenges that come with robotics, she also said she is excited for the upcoming season.
One of the next questions was “what would you be if you weren’t a teacher?” Mrs. Svoboda said she would be a Party Event Planner/Event Coordinator. She also said she would make her own DJ company with her sister. Mrs. Svoboda said her favorite part of being a teacher is engaging in fun hands-on science activities with students. Svoboda said she loves seeing them learn while being able to be themselves. She also said she loves building relationships with her co-workers. Her least favorite part of teaching is all of the grading and lesson planning.
As for high school Mrs. Svoboda went to Andale, she said she loved it because of the caring teachers and the lifelong lessons from the experiences she had. Svoboda believed that the teachers genuinely cared about her well-being. At Andale Mrs. Svoboda was involved in basketball, track, cross country, STUCO and Friends of Rachel. STUCO helped her to be creative in event planning by learning how to come up with visionary ideas. Svoboda highly recommends getting involved in something regardless of what it is. She believes being on a team and working with others gives you necessary skills such as discipline, responsibility and work ethic. Svoboda said the biggest lesson she learned in high school was to set high expectations for herself because by setting high expectations you will be more motivated to work hard to achieve success. She said she used this approach throughout her college years and now in her professional life, with her students and within her family.
We’re happy to have Mrs. Svoboda apart of Renwick!
