|
Hello!
I
have decided to create a website that can familiarize you with the my
background and the working environment at Garden Park High School.
My name is Pierre Gamache and I have been a math instructor at
GPHS for the past 2 years. That
pretty much concludes the “experience” portion of my letter, but let
me tell you, I was a gnarly math teacher (in my own mind) long before I
ever had any “experience”. I
attended the University of Northern Colorado for probably a little
longer than I should have, but that’s ok because I kind of liked it
there and I’ve never been know to be in a hurry.
I graduated with a degree in math and a minor in
coaching/physical education. Now
I know what you are thinking - “HEY
PIERRE, you can buy a math/coaching degree down at loaf n’ jug for a
nickel!” Well, that’s
why I also have a support field in science, which I am also currently
teaching at GPHS. We have
recently been trimmed down to four teachers at our school so I have had
the privilege of taking on that responsibility with the help of my good
friend and colleague Andy Feith, who is currently the Social Studies
teacher at GPHS. To be
honest, he leads and I follow, but we don’t make issues bigger than
they needs to be.
I
always thought that the best education takes place after good
relationships have been established.
Once a good working relationship has been established with the
students then I can teach the most exciting fun lessons or the most
drab, boring crap and either way the students will still work to
impress. If a student
enjoys the classroom environment, then any lesson can be a good time, or
at least tolerable enough to continue.
I have had the usual “student teaching” hours and
“classroom observations” blah blah blah, and the hardest thing that
I have ever tried to do is to get the students re-involved after they
have lost interest. The way
I see it is, those who want to succeed will.
Helping students want to succeed is then where the challenge
lies.
One thing that we stress at GPHS is outside involvement because
we do have such a small staff and because we like to offer
alternative curriculum. We
actually teach the introduction “Discovery” class to the parents
congruent to the students Discovery class.
We like to keep the parents informed of changes that they might
see in their children. This
way, when the student does change, he/she can communicate successfully
at an adult level with their parent and relay information about what
they are working on. On top
of parent involvement, we also have a lot of community involvement
through a work-study program that allows students to earn credit for
maintaining a job. Students
are required to use workplace competencies that are taught at school and
keep a log of their hours. Also, we offer courses called “Road
Scholars” classes that are experiential learning outside of the
classroom environment. These classes give students a taste of what
happens outside of school walls so that they have an idea of how to act
and what to expect once they are on their own. These classes have and
will involve camping trips, formal dinners, outdoor activities, and
trips to local businesses/services.
Finally, we are always looking for new job shadowing mentors so
if you are interested, then we need you.
Even the general public is encouraged to come in, take a tour (we
still get Canon Market shoppers from time to time), and ask questions
about how things work at GPHS.
Hopefully this website will give you some insight as to what Garden Park
High School is about and what we have to offer.
If you are interested, please feel free to call or visit anytime
during normal buisness hours and ask for a tour.
We
hope to see you soon.
Sincerely,
Pierre
Gamache
Teacher-GPHS
|