When teaching for a long period of time, whether it be a decade or two, switching subjects is something many teachers do throughout their careers.
Teachers at Lakeland High School are no exception to this.
Rebecca Hasz, the Spanish 1 and 2 teacher at LHS, is in her 24th year of teaching. Although she has always taught Spanish, she has also taught other subjects as well.
All together, Hasz has taught eight different subjects in her career. The other subjects Hasz has taught include world history, leadership, Spanish 3, high school psychology, college psychology and study support.
“I really can’t imagine doing any other job, so for me, as long as I get to teach, it doesn’t matter the subject that I teach,” Hasz said.
Hasz has enjoyed being able to branch out into different subjects when needed. Her favorite classes have been Spanish 1 and psychology.
However, she has taken an interest in dual credit classes and hopes to possibly teach them in the future.
“I looked into teaching dual credit psychology class again as well as the dual credit poli-sci when (John) Keating retires, but it will come down to what is needed at the time,” Hasz said.
Shanda Heacock is in her tenth year of teaching and has taught 13 different classes. She currently teaches government, US history III and psychology.
The majority of Heacock’s classes have been based on various government subjects, different history levels and health.
She hopes to teach economics in future years of her career. However, she is very happy with where she is now.
The only fear Heacock has is keeping up with teaching three different subjects this year.
“I just prefer to only teach two subjects as I feel a bit frazzled keeping track of three different subjects,” she said. “I’ve done it before, so I imagine I will become less frazzled as the year goes on.”
Joshua Ballard is in his second year of teaching. Originally only starting his first year of teaching physical science, he has added dual credit physics to his schedule.
Ballard’s original intention was to teach physics, so the opening spot was the perfect opportunity for him.
“I love working with seniors and juniors,” Ballard said. “They are very different from freshmen. They are responsible and respectful and driven in their schoolwork.”
The change in pace has been a nice adjustment for Ballard, and he is excited to see what teaching physics will be like.
