Join the Winfield Education Foundation this winter as we work towards the amazing Winfield Studios project. Check out more information on the Winfield Education Foundation webpage.
This week in Winfield Studios, learn more about the Winfield Studios Project!!!
Quote of the Week by Evelyn Pastrick
“Never let success go to your head, never let failure get to your heart.” - Beyoncè
Click here for more information on Beyoncè
An Interview with Mr. Brach by Samantha Mueller, December 2018
Q: What is your name and what grade do you teach?
Mr. Brach: I’m David Brach and I teach 4th grade.
Q: How long have you been working at Winfield?
Mr. Brach: I’ve been working at Winfield for 20 years and this is my very first job after graduating college. I’ve stayed here ever since.
Q: Have you ever had a different job?
Mr. Brach: Not as an adult, but as a teenager I worked at a grocery store called Mr. Green Beans and my job was to stack the wet rack. So I’d put all the fruits and vegetables on the wet rack where the water falls down. That was my job!
Q: What’s your favorite grade to teach?
Mr. Brach: I like fourth grade because I like teaching the harder subjects.
Q: What do you like about your job?
Mr. Brach: Definitely the kids. It’s all about the kids. I love seeing kids learn. I love seeing them have the “Aha” moments. I love seeing kids learn and feeling confident in themselves.
Q: What do you do after school?
Mr. Brach: After school I stay here and plan the lessons for the next day. I figure out what I’m going to do for the next units and what I’m going to do for math, social studies, and reading. I usually try to stay here till 5:30 or 6:00 everyday.
Q: What is your favorite holiday?
Mr. Brach: It’s a tie between Christmas and Halloween. I like Halloween a lot because of the ghosts and the supernatural and all the scary things!
Q: What is your favorite Christmas song?
Mr. Brach: My favorite Christmas song is White Christmas because as a kid I thought it said “Fly Christmas!”
Q: What is your favorite food for holidays?
Mr. Brach: I love mashed potatoes. I’m a big fan of ham, and I like turkey!
Q: When's your birthday?
Mr. Brach: July 27, 1976.
Q: What would you change about your job?
Mr. Brach: I would change the amount of pressure they put on kids these days especially their test scores.
Q: What do you want for Christmas?
Mr. Brach: At Costco there are three hardcover comic book encyclopedias. One is for DC, Marvel and the other combined superhero comic, and I would like those.
Q: Do you have any pets and do you dress them up for Christmas?
Mr. Brach: I have a three year old Lhasa apso named Murphy, and no, I would not dress him up because he would just tear it up!
An Interview with Mrs. Doucet by Lauren Krupp, December 2018
Q: What is your job here?
Mrs. Doucet: My job at Winfield school is an Instructional Coach and Coordinator. So I help teachers teach, help students learn, and I organize MAP testing and PARCC testing and all of that fun stuff.
Q: If you didn’t work here where or what would you do or work at?
Mrs. Doucet: I think I would be a social worker like Mrs.Davé. I love helping kids.
Q: How long have you been working here?
Mrs. Doucet: I have been at Winfield for six years.
Q: What is your favorite animal?
Mrs. Doucet: A dog. I have two dogs. Well, we used to. We had to put one down.
Q: Well that’s answers my next question. What’s your favorite food?
Mrs. Doucet: Ooh, I have two! I love Mexican food, tacos. I love Italian food, pasta and pizza.
Q: Who have you known the longest here?
Mrs. Doucet: I have known Mrs. Reinke the longest. Mrs. Reinke and I taught together in Villa Park.
Q: Who have you known the longest that is a student other than your kids?
Mrs. Doucet: Probably the current 8th grade class because that’s what grade my daughter Hailey is in.
Q: What’s your favorite book?
Mrs. Doucet: Probably Charlotte’s Web.
An Interview with Mrs. Manka by Lauren Krupp, December 2018
Q: Is it fun working with little kids or is it tough?
Mrs.Manka: I think it’s both it’s challenging because they are younger and this is their first experience at school. You’re teaching them a lot of new things different academic skills like shapes and colors and all that. I also think it fun everyday we do different things.
Q: What would you do if you weren’t a teacher?
Mrs.Manka: I really love being a teacher but when I was younger I think I wanted to be a Lawyer or maybe in elementary school I thought I would be a singer or actress. I don’t know what I would do.
Q: How long have you been working here?
Mrs.Manka: This is my second school year here for teaching at Winfield, but it's my seventh year teaching overall. I taught in Chicago and then I taught in Plainfield and Naperville too.
Q: What’s the hardest thing about being a teacher?
Mrs.Manka: Wow, I think the hardest thing is that you can have a plan, but you can’t exactly plan for everything especially in preschool there’s just gonna be things things that are gonna come up and you just have to be flexible. So you can plan out your day, but everyday is gonna be a different day. You’re never one-hundred percent sure what’s going to happen throughout the school day.
Q: Why did you become a teacher?
Mrs.Manka: I became a teacher because I wanted to help people.
Q: What are your classroom rules?
Mrs.Manka: Our classroom rules come down to being safe, responsible and respectful and when see kids having kind behavior we tell them to put a heart on the kindness tree. We also have a tiger of the week in our class for kids that are doing things above and beyond and there demonstrating things safe a responsible.
Q: What books are you reading to your students?
Mrs.Manka: The books we read this week were about transportation and the week we come back we’re gonna read holiday books and winter books as well.
Q: What were you like as a student?
Mrs.Manka: It’s hard to remember, but I think I was quieter.
An Interview with Mrs. MacMillan by Samantha Mueller, December 2018
Q: What is you name and what grade do you teach?
Mrs. Macmillan: My name is Nina Macmillan and I teach 4th grade.
Q: How long have you been teaching at Winfield?
Mrs. Macmillan: I can’t believe it, but it has been 20 years!
Q: Do you have any kids?
Mrs. Macmillan: I have a daughter that is 27, and my husband has 2 daughters and they are both in their thirties.
Q: Do you have any pets?
Mrs. Macmillan: I did, but unfortunately, we had to put our Yorkie to sleep.
Q: If you were not a teacher what other job would you want?
Mrs. Macmillan: I really like creative things so maybe an artist or writer.
Q: When is your birthday?
Mrs. Macmillan: June 3rd. So a lot of times when I was a kid my birthday was during summer break.
Q: What do you like about your job?
Mrs. Macmillan: There are so many things! Mostly I love create something new for kids to do and then have the kids enjoy it learn from it.
Q: If you could change anything for teaching what would it be?
Mrs. Macmillan: A lot of grading papers because that’s the boring part.
Q: What do you do after school?
Mrs. Macmillan: I usually am at school for at least a hour a day then when I get home I make dinner so pretty busy.
Q: What is your favorite food for Christmas?
Mrs. Macmillan: Christmas cookies are for sure my favorite!
Q: What is your favorite song?
Mrs. Macmillan: My favorite song and movie is White Christmas.
Q: What is your favorite holiday?
Mrs. Macmillan: Surprisingly it’s Christmas because you get together with your family and it’s always nice sharing presents.
Advice from Ms. Anonymous
Dear Ms. Anonymous-
It feels like some of my friends just aren’t as good of friends as they used to be when we were little. Is this normal?
-A worried 3rd grader
Sometimes I feel that way too. It’s pretty normal for people. But you can’t change who your friends are. People change over the years and that’s normal. I have a friend who I feel like we have grown further apart rather than closer. It’s hard when you lose friends, but it’s also another opportunity to make new ones! As you make new friends and find new interests, make sure to look back on the old ones. You might both realize that you were really good friends, all along!
-Ms. aNonYMoUS
