Stroudsburg Area School District has 4,534 students enrolled, with a graduation rate of 90 percent, which is why Stroudsburg is known as “The Pride of the Poconos.”
More than half the students will go off to college, trade schools, or the military, to pursue a dream of theirs. We offer award winning clubs, competitive sports, unique electives, and more. We also offer an award-winning music department. We are the only school in Monroe County with a strings program.
It takes a lot of dedication to keep a community going. We need advisors, organizers, sponsors, and supporters. We also need inspiration. Teachers are the reason the education community thrives.
“Teachers are very important to me since they educate me most of all, but also they are good people to have to help you grow as a person,” expressed Zoey Zeballos, ‘26.
Teachers take up a big chunk of creating opportunities for students. For massive clubs like FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and NHS (National Honor Society), there is a lot of dedication needed to provide success for the clubs. FBLA is run by Mrs. Jodie Haggerty and Mrs. Stacy Stephani. NHS is run by Mrs. Maureen Verwey. Without them, the clubs would not be possible.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of leading the FBLA program has been the opportunity to work alongside the talented students at Stroudsburg,” expressed Jodie Haggerty, business teacher and FBLA advisor. “Seeing how the involvement of the students in the organization has contributed to their success in higher education and their professional careers, is a source of great pride. My Goal for FBLA is to continue empowering students to discover their passions and recognize that education extends beyond the classroom into real-world application.”
We also have language classes. It takes a certain dedicated person and many years of studying to teach a new language to students. Stroudsburg only offers French and Spanish, but there are five years or levels offered.
“I have been teaching at Stroudsburg for twenty years. My favorite part about teaching is absolutely interacting with the students. I got into this because I love the Spanish language and I love traveling,” explained Spanish teacher Mrs. Amanda Nicholson. “I want to try and spark that interest in my students. My goal as a teacher is to try and be a positive spot in the day of my students! No matter what I have going on, I try to have a positive attitude so my students can have a good day. I love participating in Mini-Thon, Moving up Day, and I love the school musical!”
Stroudsburg also adds new classes every year to keep opportunities fresh for the students. Mr. Nikolaos Kontos has taken on teaching Economics, the required history class for juniors, which was just added in June of 2024.
“I went into teaching wanting to become a community leader and that is the emphasis of what I do. Teaching a new class is a bit of a process,” expressed history teacher Mr. Nikolaos Kontos, “We first have to decide what exactly we want to teach, and since economics and civics are big subjects, deciding what is and what is not in the curriculum is the first step. Once we have the standards built out, we assign chapters and figure out what content we will be using to teach, which has to be cleared by the district. Once we figure it all out, we can start teaching it.”
Many teachers also commute. It means a lot to have teachers who are willing to make a long trip every day to teach their students. Mr. Mike Frounfelker, a history teacher, commutes along with about one-third of the teachers here at Stroudsburg, with most of those trips being thirty minutes to an hour.
“This is my twenty-fifth year at Stroudsburg. I love teaching, being in the classroom, and interacting with the students. I like teaching at the front of the room and I enjoy the dialogue and the conversations that come out of it,” he explained. “I am the only teacher left in the district of the group that I started with, that commutes. The community keeps me here. I have one foot in each community where I work and where I live. I like the people, I like the students and I have no desire to go anywhere else or do anything else. The commute does not really bother me anymore.”
Many aspects go into making a successful school district. Teachers come in every day no matter what they are going through and strive to make a difference in the lives of their students. They teach the curriculum and hope that their lesson sparks interest and makes a difference in the lives of the students.
Teachers at Stroudsburg are lucky enough to have a teachers union. The union helps teachers stay unique to themselves but in agreement with each other on how they should be treated. The union president is Andrew Kurnas, an English teacher here at Stroudsburg High School.
“Being the union president means service of the highest order. You have to do things for other people and I think that is important to run a community. I am trying to make public education in our community as strong as possible and this is a place I feel comfortable trying to make that happen,” vocalized Kurnas, “It is a way to go beyond the classroom. I am just trying to serve the community and make it as good as possible.”
There is more that goes into teaching than you think. Teachers grade papers, they enter attendance, and they make lesson plans. You might think that when they go home or summer vacation comes around, they stop teaching. They are putting in so much work behind the scenes.
Teachers may have off during the summer but they are always thinking of new ways to teach a lesson or fun activities to do. Some teachers may be more creative than others, but they all try to make the class more interesting. As you have read, teachers come from all over and from various different backgrounds which inspire them to make their mark on the world.
Teachers have to keep track of hundreds of students and they also have their own lives to attend to. They will make mistakes, but as students, we should not be quick to judge them for it. As students, we make mistakes on our projects and tests all the time. Teachers should be treated with patience and respect when it comes to mistakes, instead of immediately getting attitude after making one.
Positive mental health is a message that Stroudsburg preaches loudly. When it comes to the students, Stroudsburg offers Aevidum so students within the club can encourage each other and strive to keep Stroudsburg positive. Though teachers are not included in the club, they deserve the attention that students get with mental health. Teachers are just as important as students and everyone having good mental health is better for a classroom environment.
At the end of the day, teachers are just trying to do their job, as they are humans too. As students, we should realize that everyone deserves respect because without teachers, we would not have jobs such as doctors and lawyers, which is the reason why teachers are superheroes.
