The First Year: An Interview with Mrs. Isabelle Minton

Grace Wiklund
Staff Writer
  Bonneville High School is a school that prioritizes working together in a community, similar to how a bee colony does. That community would not be what it is today without the amazing roster of teachers and staff. New educators join the faculty all the time, and the 2022-2023 school year is no exception. Shining a spotlight on one of these individuals, is Ms. Sebra, a geometry teacher who will now be known as Mrs. Minton after getting married over Christmas break. A journalism staff member  conducted an interview about her new job.
  The first few questions were regarding her schooling and how she ended up working at BHS. Minton attended Brigham Young University Idaho located in Rexburg, where she earned a degree in mathematics education. As for how she found a job at Bonneville, she said the following: “I saw job postings at Bonneville High School. I reached out to the email that was listed. I got a response asking to set up an interview and to fill out an application.” When asked about how the interview went, she said it had gone well and she was hired shortly after.
  The second half of the interview was about the actual teaching part of her job. Minton was asked how her first few weeks of teaching had been, if she had any practice or help prior. She replied, “I was so excited to start teaching and to get to know all of my students. I had to adjust many of the strategies that I was using since they were not effective. I had a great mentor who gave me advice and helped me with my questions.” It’s very understandable that the methods of teaching have to be accommodated to fill an individual's needs, which brought the interview to the next topic about the struggles of being a teacher in her first school year after getting the job. Minton states that the main problem is finding a strategy that can best help her students. “It can be hard when students don’t want help when I know they have so much potential.” 
  Some extra questions were asked towards the end of the interview. Minton was asked about how she would describe her students. “My students have been amazing to get to know. I love hearing about their life and what they like outside of school. It has been special to see students who lack self confidence in math start to come out of their shell.” The interview concluded with the final question of what she sees in the future of her career as well as her goals. Minton said that she has not thought much of the future, though she would enjoy continuing to teach at Bonneville. 
  Special thanks to Mrs. Minton for letting the journalism staff do an interview with her. It is amazing that BHS has such a fantastic teacher and many other aspiring new educators within the staff and faculty this year. The future is unknown, but Bonneville will still be here and hopefully teaching the generations to come. It’s going to be a great year for both those who have been here for years and those who have just been acquainted.