Kirsten conquers her dreams

From fixing computers to car tires and equipment, Teri Kirsten is a woman who can do anything and surpass your expectations. Now that she is here, she is ready to take on the school year and show us all what she has to offer. 

Kirsten graduated with high honors from West Virginia University in 2019. She earned a degree in chemistry. For two years, she taught at Weequahic High School in Newark NJ. Due to COVID, this is her first year teaching in front of students. 

During her first years, students would ignore her, not participate, or would completely

disregard the classes overall. Now, she’s getting used to in-class learning by seeing kids face to face here at UACHS. Kirsten feels as though phones were the main distractions for students, and one reason she decided to teach at our school was because of the Yondr pouches. 

“The previous school where I taught last year did not have cell phone pouches, this school did, and cell phones were required to be put by the students into yondr pouches,” said Kirsten. “That was a major decision for me because I noticed an increase in students’ attention span from last year.”  

Now that she has the student’s attention, she is ready to teach her favorite subject chemistry. Kirsten started loving chemistry after the 1986 death of teacher astronaut Christa McAuliffe. She died in the NASA Challenger explosion. That day Kirsten made it her mission to study chemistry, so she could teach it.

“It crushed me, I was so crushed. But then I figured that I have to follow in Christa’s footsteps to continue her legacy,” said Kirsten.

She hopes to be an inspiration to students the same way Christa inspired

 her. Now, with the school year ahead, Kirsten is super excited for this school year and is ready to show students and teachers why she is an excellent addition to our school.