Ms. Piña or Ms. Pineapple-Take Your Pick

Submitted by jennifer.dunn on

This year not only did we get a new school, we also got many new teachers. Among these teachers is Ms. Piña, a seventh grade English teacher, and she is fantastic.

Different teachers have unique reasons they chose to be teachers for junior high students. Ms. Piña says, “I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten and first attended school myself.” 

According to Ms. Piña, various experiences led her to realize she would not do well in an elementary school setting. As she went through high school she found that she loved English, so naturally she chose to become an English teacher.

Ms. Piña said that so far she loves SJHS, “What is there not to like about SJHS?! One thing I especially love is the optimism we have in our school.  We have the chance to be leaders and open this new beautiful building, and everyone is taking on the opportunity and doing their best. I love having the opportunity to come to school each day and know that we are setting the future and leading the way for thousands of others who will follow in our footsteps as they attend SJHS one day. I also love the technology we have! I think we are very fortunate to have such valuable tools at our disposal that can enrich our learning but also make it more fun too.”

Her fellow teachers love Ms. Piña just as much as she loves the new school. Ms. Dunn, an English teacher, said, “Ms. Piña is a wonderful addition to the seventh grade English team. She is very creative and comes up with great new teaching ideas. She is very willing to contribute to our team and work hard.”

Ms. McBride, another English teacher, is also a fan of Ms. Piña. “I really love working with Ms. Pina. She knows her stuff, but she is fun. She is really good at incorporating new ideas and new technology into her classroom, and she is willing to share what she has discovered. I know that Ms. Piña really cares about her students and that they are successful.”

Her students enjoy her as well. Abby McQuivey, a seventh grader, said that “[Ms. Piña] is really nice and fun.” Abby said her favorite thing she has learned from Ms. Piña is FANBOYS, words that you use to connect two complete sentences to make a compound sentence.

Finally, many have wondered why Ms. Piña is so obsessed with pineapples. They are all over her room and she is even referred to by her students as Ms. Pineapple. Ms. Piña said, “ I have had a lot of people struggle with the pronunciation of my last name - Piña (think "pee-nyuh" like piña colada), so I just decided that since "piña" means "pineapple" in Spanish and "pineapple" is also easier to say and remember, I would have my students call me "Ms. Pineapple" if they would like. That way students don't have to worry about saying it wrong or remembering how to pronounce it. I think it is fun, and it makes me smile too!”

Attributions
Aubrey Stewart, SJHS Staff Writer