As the 2022-2023 school year started, Park welcomed many new faces including the freshmen class, new returning students, and many new staff members with new teachers making up the largest group of new staff in the building.

To learn more about these new teachers, the Beacon staff talked with three of them: Ms. Weisbrod, Mr. Mantuano, and Ms. Flores. Here are some questions you may have wondered and the answers from these teachers.

Ms. Weisbrod

Ms. Weisbrod is one of the new teachers here at Park High School. She is located in room 331 and is known for teaching different social studies classes but mainly Criminology. Ms. Weisbrod graduated from Park in 2018 and now some of her former teachers are her colleagues.

Q: What does Ms. Weisbrod teach?

A: She teaches Criminology, Sociology, and Latino American History. She is teaching those three classes this semester, however, next semester she will be teaching Native American History instead of Latino  American History.

Q: Where did Ms.Weisbrod go to college?

A: She went to the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. She originally went to college to teach psychology but decided to switch it to sociology. Her major was Sociology Education and her minor was Psychology Education.

Q: When did Ms. Weisbrod start teaching?

A: This year 2022-2023 school year is her first year teaching. She is excited because she is teaching back in the school she attended.

Q: Why did Ms. Weisbrod decide to start teaching?

A: She comes from a family of teachers. Her mom is a teacher at Mitchell, and her grandfather was also a teacher here at Park. “So I guess I always wanted to be a teacher. I used to play being a teacher when I was little. My oldest sister used to force me to do my homework, so she would do lessons and we would switch off.”

Q:Who is someone Ms. Weisbrod looks up to?

A: One of the main people she looks up to the most is her dad. “He is one of the main reasons why I continued on.”  He always tries to be involved in the things she does. She would join something and he would always be with her and would try to help out.

Q: How would Ms. Weisbrod describe her experience at Park High School so far?

A: She says that so far her experience has been amazing,  All of the staff are very welcoming and that in her opinion it does help the fact that half of them were her teachers. She says that her students are very open with her and that it’s easy for her to make relationships.

Mr. Mantuano

Mr.Mantuano, is also a first year teacher who teaches five different classes. He spent five years at two different colleges for business management.

Q: What does Mr. Mantuano teach?

A: He teaches Keyboarding, Introduction to Business, Computers for Professionals, and Accounting. As a first year teacher this is an impressive amount of classes to take on.

Q: Where did Mr. Mantuano go to college?

A: Mr. Mantuano attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and Parkside. He went to college for business management.

Q: When did Mr. Mantuano start teaching?

A: This year 2022-2023 school year is his first year ever teaching.

Q: Why did Mr. Mantuano decide to start teaching?

A: He decided to start teaching because he loved working with kids when he coached basketball. After doing some research about an experience-based license, he pursued his career of becoming a teacher.

Q: Who is someone Mr.Mantuano looks up to?

A: Mr. Mantuano looks up to his mom. She was a teacher for about thirty-five years before she retired from Kenosha Unified.

Q: How would Mr. Mantuano describe his experience working at Park High School?

A: He states that the staff and students are amazing and he definitely likes it here. He also says that he does see himself working here next year so you should expect to see him then. All in all he loves working at Park.

Mrs. Flores

This is her first year at Park; she started teaching in 2010 at Head Start Preschool. After trying to help her kids learn at a higher level, her love for teaching kids grew.

Q: What Does Mrs. Flores Teach?

A: Mrs. Flores is as a ESL Bilingual teacher.

Q: Where did Mrs. Flores go to college?

A: Mrs. Flores attended Grand Canyon University. “I have a master’s in Education and I am in school now for my Graduate Certificate of Completion in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).”

Q: When did Mrs. Flores start teaching?

A: Mrs. Flores started teaching in 2010 at Head Start preschool.

Q: Why did Mrs. Flores decide to become a teacher?

A: Mrs. Flores originally decided to become a teacher in an attempt to help her own kids learn at a higher level, but once she started teaching she fell in love with what she was doing.

Q: Who is someone Mrs. Flores looks up to?

A: The person Mrs. Flores looks up to the most is her mom because of her strong background. Her mother was a single mother of six and was still able to provide education for all of them, so seeing her mom being able to go through the struggles, ups and downs and still showing positivity motivates her to keep doing what she is doing.

Q: How would Mrs. Flores describe her experience working at Park?

A: Mrs. Flores says that she likes working at Park High School. She states that she likes working with all the students, even some being seniors this year. Seeing these seniors achieve their goals and move on with their life is awesome to her. Also to be able to help the ESL students in completing their goals especially coming from a different country has also been amazing to see them improve and grow.

Good luck to these teachers and all of Park’s staff. The Beacon will share more interviews of new staff.