The Eye of the Hurricane had the pleasure to interview Bess Ondako, the Head of the English Department.  Mrs. Ondako has been with the New Castle Areas School District for fifteen years.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I don’t know that I had an inspiration. I went to school not knowing what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to major in English, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use it for writing or law. I just got a secondary education degree. So I just decided to become a teacher.

Where did you attend college?

Westminster College. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degree there.

What is the role and responsibilities as the English Department Head?

I do have to check and make sure everyone has what they need. I have to report to the principal every month and discuss if there are any needs or if he has any needs like what he needs us to do. I shouldn’t say that it’s my responsibility, but I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure that the department is happy in the end. If someone is overworked I think it’s a responsibility of the department chair to say we got this we can do this together. Orientate new teachers. I do the ordering for the department if anybody needs anything like that. A lot of communication between myself, the principal, sometimes the administration, and the school board.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I don’t know again that I have a specific one, but I entered each year thinking that every kid has a bar that they don’t realize they can hit, and I want them to get over that bar. I want to make every kid realize that with a little bit of work on their end they can reach the educational goals that they have set for themselves.

How do you incorporate social-emotional learning into your lessons?

I really think that just in talking or comparing some of the literary works to life experiences will promote social-emotional learning as well as tolerance, civic responsibility, and civility.

How do you motivate students?

Motivation is not easy anymore. I’m lucky because I have all kids who come to me already motivated. I think by letting them all know that there’s an end goal for them, what they want to become, what they want to do.

How do you handle difficult situations in the classroom?

It often depends on the classroom, but the last thing I do is yield. Because I think that’s what kids sometimes push for and they want to see you lose control so I think yelling is a form of a loss of control.

What is your best advice to improve your writing skill sets?

To not be afraid to ask, and not be able to consult things. Students carry around these phones all the time, but the last thing they’ll use them for is spelling, or check a sentence structure, to look how to improve wording. I think my best advice for students to take their time, and to use the tools that they have that I didn’t have growing up, and that other teachers my age didn’t have growing up.

Who’s your favorite author and why?

My favorite classic author is probably Truman Capote, I shouldn’t say classic he’s really not a classic but older. John Steinbeck is my favorite American classic. He has great works, and I like the way he words things. My favorite British author is William Golding. Contemporary, I love J.K Rowling, I love the Harry Potter series. For relaxed comedy purposes I love Janette Evanovich. So I think I have different authors in different genres. I like reading mysteries by Michael Connelly. I like reading a different variety of things.

Tell us something about yourself that most students will be surprised of

I listen to grunge and heavy metal music. That’s my favorite genre of music.