New Faces at Shorecrest

In Early Childhood, we have two new teachers and one who is returning.

Jerry Spanos will be teaching Junior Kindergarten this year. Although she is new to our teaching staff, she is a familiar face to Shorecrest! Mrs. Spanos was a substitute teacher last year and she has three children at Shorecrest: John, who will be in third grade; David, who will be in seventh grade; and Stephen who will be in eleventh grade. Mrs. Spanos has seven years of teaching experience. She has her B.A. in education, specializing in early childhood education, from the University of Florida and her master's degree in education from Cameron University in Oklahoma. Mrs. Spanos enjoys running and all types of athletics in her free time.

Nancy Stowe will be Mrs. Spanos' assistant in the classroom. Previously Mrs. Stowe worked at Great Explorations as a summer camp teacher and the store manager. She also has a State of Florida law enforcement certification. Mrs. Stowe enjoys gardening and bird watching and is a vegetarian. She is looking forward to seeing all the children and "watching their little minds learn."

Wendy Jotch will also be teaching Junior Kindergarten. Mrs. Jotch previously taught Junior Kindergarten at Shorecrest for three years and took one year off to have her son, Jackson Cole. She is warmly welcomed back! Mrs. Jotch graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.S. in elementary childhood education. She loves the "curiosity and innocence and awe of everything" that she sees in her students as well as "sharing their first experiences." Mrs. Jotch looks forward to introducing her students to cockatiel Flappy Doodle, the class pet!

In Lower Division, we would like to welcome Jessi Acosta, who will be the Kindergarten Assistant for Mrs. Minke. Mrs. Acosta has two children at Shorecrest: Alexander, who will be in second grade, and Katerina, who will be in fifth grade. She has been a Shorecrest parent for three years. Mrs. Acosta is originally from Panama, and she has traveled extensively with her husband Orlando who is a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. While in Oklahoma, she taught at a Head Start program and also volunteered as a Spanish teacher for Kindergarten - fourth grade. Mrs. Acosta enjoys music, long walks and playing board games with her family. She is "very happy to be a part of the Shorecrest family."

Heather Overton spent three years teaching Kindergarten at Shorecrest before taking three years off to be a stay-at-home mom. Now her daughter, Shelby, will be in the Alpha class, and Mrs. Overton will be back teaching Kindergarten. Mrs. Overton has her bachelor's and her master's degrees in elementary education from the University of Florida. She has also taught in Orlando and spent one year teaching at the Florida Virtual Academy as an online instructor during Shelby's first year. Mrs. Overton's favorite vacation place is Disney! She loves "the 5-6 year age because there are so many growing opportunities." She is excited to be back and says she wouldn't want to teach anywhere else!

Ginger Mitchell will be teaching first grade. Mrs. Mitchell received her B.S. from Indiana University and her Masters in Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. She has 13 years of teaching experience, many of them teaching first grade. Mrs. Mitchell has a daughter who is in college and a son, Blake, who will be a freshman at Shorecrest. She also has two stepchildren, Zach and Maxx Mitchell, who will be in sixth and second grades respectively. Mrs. Mitchell loves going to her children's sporting events, cooking, reading suspense novels, and shopping. "I am very excited to be at Shorecrest. It's a wonderful school, and we'll have a great year."

We have two new teachers in second grade: Dawana Hug and Marion O'Mullane.

Mrs. Hug grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from St. Michael's College in Vermont with a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education. She has been teaching for several years and is "excited to be teaching at Shorecrest." Mrs. Hug and her husband often go to see movies, and her favorite movie is Love Jones. She also enjoys going to plays and musicals, traveling to Jamaica to visit family, playing with her one-year old boxer Kingston, and being a vegetarian.

Marion O'Mullane comes to us from Australia with fourteen years of teaching experience, ten of those being in international schools in Atlanta and Frankfurt, Germany. She has a Bachelor of Arts Honors in Education from the University of Wollomgong in Australia. Mrs. O'Mullane has a two-year-old daughter, Grace, and "feels home here in St. Petersburg by the ocean" since she grew up near the water. She has trained in all types of creative dance and loves music. Mrs. O'Mullane is looking forward to meeting the Shorecrest families and students.

Fourth grade teacher Tom Hughes drove 2,000 miles from New Mexico to relocate to St. Petersburg this week! While in New Mexico, he spent 15 years working with Native American children. He received his Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and his master's in early childhood education from the City College of New York. He has 30 years of teaching experience including teaching at the International School in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. Hughes is passionate about helping children learn global awareness and how "they fit into the world." He is pleased about the many nationalities that are represented at Shorecrest in both families and the faculty. Mr. Hughes has been married for 38 years and met his wife in the Peace Corps in Iran. They have a son, Gulliver, who is in graduate school in the United Kingdom. Mr. Hughes enjoys golf and rollerblading and is eager to learn about kayak fishing. He loves all sorts of games and toys, and has a huge Mr. Potato Head collection!

Karl Tremmel missed teaching second grade so much that he is returning to the classroom after one year of retirement. "I feel a calling for this. It's not just a job to me. I am fortunate to get paid to do what I love." Mr. Tremmel spent seven years teaching at Shorecrest but has been a teacher since the early 70s. He also teaches the Chess Club, which he has been doing for 25 years because he believes it is such an important tool for kids to develop reasoning skills, concentration, general math and sequencing. When he isn't teaching, Mr. T loves to read and travel and says his goal is to see all of the continents.

Jeff Diedrich will be teaching Lower Division Physical Education as well as coaching the boys varsity soccer team and assistant coaching Middle Division baseball. He grew up in Denver and graduated from the Metropolitan State College in Denver with a B. A. in physical education. Prior to Shorecrest, Mr. Diedrich taught seventh grade math at the Manatee School for the Arts but P.E. is his passion, and he is pleased to be teaching it and coaching again. Mr. Diedrich loves traveling and lived in Sweden for four years and speaks Swedish fluently. He also spent a year in Honduras. When not traveling or playing sports, Mr. Diedrich enjoys playing the guitar, writing kids' songs and creating art through painting. He and Jill, who works as a reading coach, have two sons, two year old Jack, and Elijah who is four months old.

Sarah Swoch is our new Science Resource Director. She grew up in Chicago but came to Florida to attend Eckerd College, where she graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Marine Science and a minor in Japanese. She loves to swim and be outside and is "excited to teach the students all about science!" Mrs. Swoch will also be in charge of the Extended Care program.

The Middle Division has three new faculty members: Michael McCarthy, Sarah Moebius, and Brian Marchetti.

Mr. McCarthy will be teaching music and hails from Cork, Ireland. He graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and he also has a BFA from Stephen's College. Mr. McCarthy is a world-class singer who played Inspector Javert in the Broadway production of Les Miserables and also in London's West End. He and Colm Wilkinson performed Les Mis in Shanghai, and as a result of its success, western shows are now being produced in Mandarin in China. He is looking forward to working with the eighth graders on some songs from the musicals "Blood Brothers" and "Me and My Girl" as well as some Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. His wife, Stephanie, is also a music teacher and will be substituting when Mr. McCarthy is performing abroad. They have a son, Cían, who will begin the Alpha program this year. When not singing, Mr. McCarthy enjoys walking, swimming and playing piano. He instructed at Shorecrest this summer with Mr. Leavengood's Pro Theatre Prep program and says, "The kids I met during the summer made me want to be here. They were a credit to the school."

Eighth grade math teacher Sarah Moebius just moved to Florida from Indiana and is looking forward to spending some free time on our beautiful Florida beaches. She says "I haven't been to a beach yet, but that is a goal for this weekend!" Ms. Moebieus graduated from Purdue University with a B. S. in mathematics education and a minor in modern dance. She also enjoys reading and just finished The Secret Life of Bees.

Brian Marchetti has his B.A. from Loyola Marymount University and his Masters of education from Georgia State University. He will be teaching fifth grade world geography and coaching the boys varsity basketball team. Mr. Marchetti grew up in the San Francisco area and taught in Los Angeles. He was also the assistant varsity coach for basketball for Pace Academy in Atlanta. Mr. Marchetti likes golf, music, reading and traveling.

The Upper Division has two new faces this year: Chris Powers and Charlie Hart.

Mr. Powers will be teaching eleventh grade honors English as well as assisting students in the college counseling office with essay writing and scholarships. The son of Upper Division Spanish teacher Cary Powers, Mr. Powers graduated from Shorecrest in 2000 and then went to Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania where he received a B.A. in English Literature and philosophy. After college, he went to the island of Pohnpei, located seven degrees north of the equator, and taught English to 136 students. After returning to the States, he taught humanities at Country Day School in Largo, but he is thrilled to be back at Shorecrest. "It is good to feel like I am back at home!" Chris also loves music and plays a number of instruments, including the bass guitar, and he is currently recording a solo record of indie music.

Mr. Hart will be teaching World Civilizations and AP World History. He grew up in the Chicago area and received his bachelor's degree from Illinois State and his master's degree from Northern Arizona. Mr. Hart has been able to combine his two passions, teaching and traveling. He always wanted to be a teacher and has spent many years teaching in international schools in Jordan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Africa. "I love to teach in international schools and give and receive a fresh perspective - something important for a social studies teacher." When he is not traveling, Mr. Hart enjoys photography.