Every fall at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, new students are welcomed on campus to start their next school year. However, students are not the only new faces around.
Each department looks forward to introducing new faculty to the students on the first day of school. It is an exciting time for the students and the teachers to get to know each other and start their educational journey together. A student’s ability to learn, grow, and hopefully succeed in each area of study can be influenced by the teacher and their relationship.
One new teacher that will be helping the English department is Jeremy Kienitz. Kienitz has been teaching English for 10 years, but this is his first year at BSM. He was interested in coming to BSM because of its great academic reputation and success in numerous sports teams. “I’ve heard it’s a great school. The kids are great, the curriculum is fantastic, It’s close to where I live, so it just made sense for me to come,” Kienitz said.
I’ve heard it’s a great school. The kids are great, the curriculum is fantastic, It’s close to where I live, so it just made sense for me to come
— Jeremy Kienitz
Kienitz hasn’t been at BSM for long, but he has been enjoying the time that he has been teaching here. His favorite part of BSM has been the students. “Everyone is so nice and welcoming, I also like how smooth everything has been going. It’s been an easy transition so that’s probably my favorite part,” said Kienitz.
Kienitz has not been an English teacher forever. Before his teaching days, he spent 15 years as a radio producer. Kienitz then used his production experiences to begin his teaching journey at Metropolitan State. He believes his experience in radio led to his becoming a teacher. All his past experience reading, writing, and communicating with people in the radio industry has led him right into his teaching career. “It’s a lot of work being a radio producer; you have to deal with a lot of people, and I had to read a lot, so I just rolled into this, and it all worked out,” Kienitz said.
Many times, the classroom can be a scary place for some, and not a good environment. It is important for teachers to have a good relationship with students so the classroom can be efficient and a good learning space. To accommodate this, Kienitz gets to know the students as well as he can. “If I know more about them, it’s easier to create a good learning environment for all,” Kienitz said.