Victoria Stafford Online Editor For the first part of my freshman year, I was unable to recognize the mysterious “Mrs. Mecham” -- she was already on a first name basis with every student. Without a doubt, Mitzi is a breath of fresh air. Like many of her colleagues, Mitzi is genuinely dedicated to her teaching and clearly devoted to her students, taking the time to care for every single one. But what I admire most about Mitzi is her undeniable passion for theater and her ability to incite in her students an excitement to learn and delve into the fine arts. This year, I was fortunate to be recognized as Utah’s Sterling Scholar in the Theater, Drama and Forensics category; truly, had it not been for Mitzi’s guidance, I would have never dreamed to fall in love with the theater arts and achieve such an honor. Her dedication during these times is especially impressive; shortly after she had to visit the hospital due to a slip on icy stairs this winter, she was back to teaching and directing not one, but two plays for long hours after school.
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Jordan Maxwell Staff Writer Mrs. Liz Dickenson is the Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher at Logan High and has worked here for the past four years. “She is honestly one of the best teachers ever because she cares about what’s going on with me, and that is so important to me,” said one of her students, Melodee Zappitello. Dickenson is originally from Puerto Rico and moved to Kansas in 2004. She has since lived in Oklahoma and now currently resides in Utah. She moved to Logan because her husband of 10 years, Nick Dickenson, was offered the job of an assistant professor of Biochemistry at Utah State. "[Mrs. Dickenson] cares about what's going on with me, and that is so important to me." Rebecca Kiflom Staff Writer As the school year gradually approaches its end and summer gets closer, we start to see a lot of things that won’t be the same when we return in August. Besides changing schedules and losing our seniors, we will also lose one of the greats at Logan High: Mr. George Duersch. Mr. Duersch has been teaching for a total of 40 years. He started in 1976 at Dugway High School where he coached football, basketball, and track for 3 years. Duersch began teaching at Logan Junior High in 1980, and in 1984, when the freshmen were transferred down to Logan High, he came here where he has taught ever since, making it a total of 33 years at Logan High. “Get involved in activities; the more activities you’re involved with the more memories you’re going to have. Get away from your cell phones for a while. Turn off your Macbooks. Get away from your video games. Go outside and have an enjoyable time with nature.” Jada van Soolen Staff Writer There are plenty of new people at Logan High, and there are many students who seem to know every teacher that works at this school. There’s one teacher who is not as widely known as some but who has been teaching for 14 years and at Logan High for about 2 years, come this summer. Tracy Nalani Cummins is one of the English teachers at Logan High. She is married with five kids and has six grandchildren. Her husband works in the BATC and runs the furniture business that both of them own while Cummins works at the high school. "Sit down in my squishy chair. Let's talk." Rebecca Kiflom Staff Writer Larry Williams has been teaching for a total of 36 years. He taught one year at Logan Junior High, and the remaining years he has been at Logan High. The 2016/17 school year will be his last year of teaching as he is retiring at the end of May. Williams graduated from Logan High and went on to Utah State University, graduating in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He later went on to get a teaching certificate and eventually went back and earned a master’s degree. A job at Logan Junior High later opened up, and Williams was hired and has worked in the Logan City School District ever since. Williams has taught economics, macroeconomics, personal financial planning, accounting 1050, accounting 1&2, entrepreneurship, and pretty much anything that doesn’t use a computer and relates to business. “I’ve had the pleasure to work with a lot of great teachers. Students are obviously the main focus of why I’m here.” Thomas Darling Staff Writer Out of all the important subjects in school, you probably use English the most in your everyday life. Why else would we be required to take it every year? But English is no easy subject and definitely difficult to take a full grasp on, even if you have spoken it your whole life! Many of the men and women here at LHS in the English Department work extremely hard and have to stay on top of their craft to help us learn. I had the privilege to do my feature on Mrs. Pamela Spindler, one of our English teachers. "I like to boss people around." Channing Gibbs Staff Writer With the debate season in full swing, Quentin Unsworth has a lot on his plate. In his 2nd year at Logan High Mr. Unsworth teaches both geography and speech and debate. Starting his career at Sunset Jr. High School, Unsworth got into teaching because he loved history. Previously working for American Honda, Unsworth decided to move over to teaching because he “struggled to find motivation to go to work everyday.” “The best part about being a teacher,” Unsworth said, “is that I don’t struggle with that motivation to come to school. I’m excited to come here.” "He manages to maintain enough sanity to teach freshman classes, which is definitely a struggle all on its own." Juri Arriola Staff Writer Brad Perry, one of Logan High’s many respected teachers, shared a little bit about himself. Perry is a math teacher at Logan High and is well loved by many students because of his outstanding personality and his bond with students. Perry has been happily married for 8 years, with four kids, three of them being boys and the oldest in kindergarten. He grew up in California and Washington and moved to Utah when he was 18. As a high school student Perry liked playing pranks on students and on teachers. He also had great grades and loved playing sports. He was interested in track, football, basketball and wrestling. Athletic he was! After high school Perry attended three different colleges: UVU, SLCC and U of U before ending up at USU. Perry described college as “work, work and more work.” “What got me interested in teaching was having my summers off, and now that I’m married I don’t get my summers off.” Jakob Misback Staff Writer Logan High School, born in 1917, still standing strong today. There are so many things to be celebrated on the school’s one-hundredth birthday, and for the most part, students seem to be wrapped in a sense of optimism and pride about it. There are, of course some missing links, one of them being the lack of true appreciation towards teachers from a large amount of students. Those who don’t care much about their teachers, usually forget that their teachers are more than just “teachers.” They have their own lives, and most of them chose their job because they realized the value and need of education in society. It is not only great to have school pride because of your peers’ and your own hard work, but also because of the realization of your teachers’ dedication and passion to keep the school alive. Our teachers should be some of the most, if not, the most honored citizens in society. That’s why Mr. Eborn, the AP European History, Modern World Civilizations, and Geography teacher at Logan High, is being spotlighted by the newspaper. “When Luther stapled the 95 Theses to the monastery door, it sparked the beginning of what would forever change western civilization’s political and social ideology." Victoria Stafford Online Editor Randy Smith, Logan High’s beloved longtime choral director, has shown consistent dedication and care towards the LHS fine arts department and every one of his students. Inhabiting the unique positions of ‘educator’ and ‘artist’ simultaneously, Smith has strived to cultivate an environment of open expression and creativity in his classroom while instilling into his students a strong work ethic and respect for music of all styles. His sheer dedication to the program is nothing less than admirable and inspiring. “I should be going to Sky View, because I live in that district,” junior Nalani Matthias, member of Crimson Colony, confessed. “But I came to Logan just to take choir from Randy, because I saw how amazing he was as a director.” Smith makes a point to create a diverse repertoire for all of his choirs as a means to expose students to new styles, anything from baroque to soul singing. Not only do students develop a greater respect for each style, but students come out of Smith’s instruction as better performers armed with a more versatile range of techniques. Additionally, Smith emphasizes not just the technical aspects of the music, but the raw emotion behind each note. Students are taught to sing with purpose and passion. "[Randy] has taught me more about life than he's taught me about music. He has an interest and love for his students, and that's what makes him a successful teacher." |
Teacher of the MonthSome food for thought: These people have to deal with rotten, smelly teenagers for nearly seven hours, five days a week. Now, that's commitment. That's why here, we've dedicated a space for students to recognize teachers and their dedication. They deserve it. Archives
July 2017
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