Teacher of the Week: Ms. Stellwagen
Photos taken by Hyunwoo Kim
This week Platform Post Jeju brings you Ms. Stellwagen to the spotlight for this week’s Teacher of the Week. Ms. Stellwagen is a Theatre teaching at BHA and is one of the coolest teachers I know of!
Background info. (What did you before you came to BHA? Where are you from? Major in college, etc.)
“I come from Chicago, Illinois from the USA. To briefly tell my life story, I graduated Beloit College. During college, I realised that I loved to teach and pursued half of my student teaching in college and finished the rest in Geelong, Australia. While I was in Australia for about seven months, I got the chance to go on backpacking trips. I went back to the States and started a job as a residence director at a college before I realised that I needed theatre in my life! I worked in Hong Kong for two years and felt the need to go back to school to develop my skills as a teacher so I can help my students with their Theatre skills. As a result, I got my Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre for Youth at Arizona State College. Another side of me is that I am passionate towards helping others. I worked with digital story telling with children in treatment for cancer and blood disorders; I worked with these children to tell their stories. Also, I worked at non-profit theatre companies. To move onto my personal life, I met Mr. Zarate while I was in university. We started out as friends and eventually started dating. We worked in Los Angeles, where I got a job as a professor at Appalachian State University teaching students Theatre education.”
As a child, what did you want to be when you grow up?
“This is going to be a long list. I wanted to be a lot of things! I wanted to become an astronaut, veterinarian, an actress, and an internal affair officer. I also wanted to be Sherlock Holmes, not the detective but the actual Sherlock Holmes. Although I had these aspirations, I realised in college that I wanted to teach Theatre.”
What were you like as a high school student?
“I was weird. I was outgoing and talkative. I was a student that worked hard enough to get mostly A’s and B’s; but school was not everything. I was greatly involved in my community theatre and I was in a play almost all the time. I would go to my community theatre everyday except on Friday’s and Sunday’s. I had to learn to balance my schoolwork with theatre work. I was also a part of a youth group where we did volunteer work and helped out in soup kitchens.”
What brought you to BHA? Do you enjoy life here at Jeju, how long has it been since you lived in Jeju?
“Since my professor position at Appalachian State University lasted a year, I asked Mr. Zarate if he would be willing to try international teaching and he agreed. We went to job conferences and I knew Mr. Peter Kenny. I knew he was a person that I could trust where he had a school that would value the Arts. I looked up images of the school that were online and they looked beautiful and even Jeju looked absolutely wonderful. To add on an important point, I can tell anyone that I am a feminist. I strongly believe in empowering women. Women empowerment has just been a part of my belief system. A reason why I was attracted to BHA was that it was an all girls’ school. This is my second year at BHA but to tell the truth I work a lot. I have yet to go see sight seeing around Jeju and learn more about Korean culture.”
As a Theatre teacher, what do you love about your teaching area?
“Theatre is a subject where everything comes together and I love how it is interdisciplinary. You learn about Culture, History, Humanity, and Psychology. Students learn responsibility by taking initiative over projects. Theatre also teaches you life necessary skills that you will use when you are still an adult. You have to be innovative and creative and Theatre cultivates that. As a teacher, I also enjoy students getting out of their shell by getting physically engaged.”
What is your goal as a teacher?
“As a teacher, I always want to create a safe environment where my students are cared for, challenged and accountable. It does not bother me one bit when students make mistakes, as long as they learn from their mistakes. I want my students to never be afraid to ask question and seek for guidance.”
Do you have any future goals?
“One crazy goal I have is to be a secret animal astronaut veterinarian that performs but to be honest, I am not good at science. I would also like to go on more vacations by playing more games in life, and watching more sunsets. On an academic note, a goal I have is to apply my EAL strategies I am learning in my course. I would like to cultivate a true Restorative practice in my classroom.”
That’s a wrap for this week’s Teacher of the Week. I hope everyone has had a nice start to Spring. Platform Post Jeju would like to thank Ms. Stellwagen for doing this interview. Thank you!