Teacher Appreciation Week: Denise Witmer
Featuring Denis Witmer, MHS Second-Grade Teacher
In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Milton Hershey School interviewed several teachers, across all three scholastic division, to recognize their important role within the MHS community.
-
What’s one thing you wish people understood about your job?
It never ends. Although the checkout time is 3:15 p.m., teachers continue to plan, look for ideas, read other teachers’ posts/blogs, and evaluate their day (what went well, what can I do better, what needs to be retaught tomorrow, are my students getting this information, etc.) well into the evening.
-
What are the biggest challenges and most rewarding parts of your job?
The biggest challenge is meeting all my students’ needs. The biggest reward is meeting all my students’ needs. Each student arrives in the classroom with unique academic, social, and behavioral needs. The goal is to support these needs and help them grow, at their own rate, to meet and exceed these needs. In a classroom, that can be challenging, but it is so rewarding when you see the work you and the student have put into growing in all three areas. It is what makes those teacher/student relationships so strong.
-
What made you want to become a teacher?
I’ve always loved children and wanted to be a teacher, but attending and graduating from Milton Hershey School, and experiencing the love and commitment from the teachers here, only reaffirmed how important it is to make a difference in a child’s life. The gift that Mr. Hershey gave me, giving me so much without even knowing me, also made me want to give back. What better way to give back than to teach.
-
What grade do you teach? And how many years have you been teaching?
I teach second grade. This is my 29th year of teaching.
MHS Teachers Embody Excellence
Learn More About Careers Worth Every Minute
Milton Hershey School is carefully following federal and state guidelines, CDC considerations, and MHS-established health and safety protocols to keep our campus a safe, nurturing, and healthy place. Any group photos of unmasked subjects were taken prior to the face coverings mandate.