Say Hello to Our New Staff Members

Written by: Kaitlyn Ford

Nestled in the corner of the school in room 23-006, you will find a new face at MHS who is part of the Family Consumer Science Department. A department of electives, that many students don’t partake in, but those that do or just happen to get enrolled end up finding it to be one of their more enjoyable classes and a break to their day. Ms. Anderson is part of that welcomed break.

“Fashion, Merchandising, and Design – part of the Family and Consumer Sciences. However, I mostly teach at the middle school, instructing an introductory class for both 7th and 8th graders.”

There are many subjects in the teaching field. Many teachers have a particular reason for choosing their subject.

For Ms. Anderson, throughout her young adulthood found sewing and cooking as her primary hobbies. She would regularly make elaborate meals for other people and even made her own clothing. Her family, teachers, and professors took note about how much these hobbies were part of who she was.

Ms. Anderson said, “My high school teachers strongly encouraged me to pursue this field after having me in class. Two of my biggest influences were my family and consumer sciences teachers who strongly encouraged me to share my passion for sewing and designing with others.”

Some may believe that FCS is not an important subject to teach, but that is quite the contrary. FCS provides many important skills that can be used consistently in life.

“It is important to teach this course so that students can see a whole new career option. In the fashion design world, there are hundreds of careers that most people don’t know about. It’s important for students to understand the impact of what we wear on our daily lives.” Said Ms. Anderson.

Many projects take place in FCS and it is not just all

I am looking forward to all the sewing projects we will be doing this year in Fashion, Merchandising, and Design!

I love to sew and make clothing for others and myself, travel to new places, and spend time with my family and friends. Even when I am not teaching, I still find myself quite busy.

If you find yourself interested in fashion or even just wanting to expand your horizons in the world of FCS, be sure to take Ms. Anderson’s class!

Written by: Addie Weggen

Education is so important in today’s society, and everyone deserves to learn and be educated. Here at MHS, we have so many adults who prioritize the education and happiness of all students, so they get the education they deserve.

Scott Beck, a first-year educator at MHS, believes heavily in the importance of education and ensures all of his students are prioritized. Beck teaches essential special education here at MHS; this is his eighth year teaching, but his first here.

“Before teaching I did services with adults with disabilities, which is more about organizing activities and getting everyone involved,” said Beck.

Aside from his crucial role at MHS, Beck is also a family man. Prioritizing his time at home and soaking in all the love from his support systems.

“I live in Tipton, I have three kids, I don’t get much time for hobbies with a 10-year-old, a five-year-old, and a one-year-old, but they keep me busy enough,” said Beck.

Beck is already admired here at MHS, but how did he find his way here and to this profession?

“ It took me a long time to find my way, but I graduated with my undergrad degree (Journalism) and my bachelor’s, but this was in 2009 during the recession, so I struggled for a while to find a job with a lack of experience,” said Beck.

Though everyone eventually finds their way, and now that’s what Beck is doing for others. To get by Beck joined Miracorp to cover his expenses when he lived in Washington.

“In Washington, I started working with underprivileged kids in an after-school program to keep them out of trouble. I did that for a decent amount of time and ran the thing which helped me find my way,” said Beck

Eventually, Beck started teaching full-time and has 8 years under his belt in the field. Moving to Muscatine to be closer to his family and what he loves.

“I make it a priority to separate school and home because that is when people start to experience burnout. When I’m at home I’m home and when I’m here I’m here, and that is so important,” said Beck.

Scott Beck is a hidden gem, and here at MHS we are so lucky to have someone who prioritizes others and makes sure everyone is shining bright.

Written by: Arabella Fourneau

After a happy 29 years of teaching in Wapello, Mr. Parsons was not necessarily looking for a new job, but lucky for us he took on the position as teacher of all Advanced Lifting classes, Intro to Strength classes, and as one of the assistant coaching roles for the football team.

“When the position first came open here, it definitely piqued my interest. I think I was just at that point in my career where I was sort of looking for a new challenge, a change of pace, and when this opportunity came open I jumped at it,” Parsons added.

At Wapello, he was very happy with his job but found that the new opportunity that opened here was right for him. He figured that, if anything, it would be a great opportunity for him to do more of what he loves about teaching.

“I really love training student-athletes and developing them into not only better athletes but more importantly better people,” he said.

This new job is even allowing him to expand more on his coaching because even though his old school was a great fit for him, being at a bigger school with our newer and bigger facilities such as our VanHecke Center where his classes take place.

With the experience under his belt of totalling29 years all at Wapello where he served as the Head Football Coach for 24 years, and Head Boys Track Coach for 22 years, he will be able to use these new resources to hopefully continue building up our athletes just like he did at his old school.

Talk to the athletes and lifters here. You will quickly realize that he has been a welcome staff member at MHS. Take lifting as one of your PE credits and get to know him and maybe he’ll make an impact in your life too.

Written by: Sascha Cacho

Even though he’s a new teacher at Muscatine High School, Mr. O’Shaughnessy is not new to the environment of fine arts programs it’s always been part of who he is.

His path to becoming a band director wasn’t very direct. In school, O’Shaughnessy was also fond of math, taking every class he could. This led to him focusing on accounting throughout college until the end of his fourth year when he began to reconsider.

“I just decided that I didn’t see a means to an end with being an accountant in which I would be happy.”

This was a pivotal point in his career. Close to finishing school, he chose to follow a different path. Following his love for music, he intended to become a high school band director.

“I don’t think that I originally had the patience to teach kids when I was a high schooler, and that turned me away from wanting to study music in college. But after I had walked away from it and become a little older and more mature, I had a new love and appreciation for what it would be like to teach students,” he shared.

After that realization, Mr. O’Shaughnessy switched his degree to music education.

“If you show up and you love what you’re doing every day, then you don’t always feel like you’re at work all day,” he said.

Along with the iconic band slogan, “attitude is everything,” Mr. O’Shaughnessy prefers a positive environment for the students who participate in the band. His biggest “ick” is putting others down, or “poking fun” at people, even if it’s originally meant to be a joke.

“I think that even when students, teachers, or just people in general, are willing to laugh along with those jokes that poke fun – it creates an ongoing narrative of somebody being picked on. Even if it’s for a humorous reason, it can and will very often lead to negative internal feelings,” said O’Shaughnessy.

A common theme that Mr. O’Shaughnessy shows throughout his personality is positivity. Music brings him happiness, which is why he chose to pursue this career. After long days at school, music continues to bring Mr. O’Shaughnessy joy. His passion for music isn’t limited to school grounds, it persists into his personal life and even provides a sense of peace. After school, when he needs a moment to relax, music continues to intertwine with his life.

Want to learn more about Mr. O’Shaughnessy? Read Sascha’s full story about him here.

Written by: Colby Black

There is a new teacher here at MHS and her name is Ashton Horn. She is now a German teacher here at MHS and feels very privileged to be working at the high school, especially excited to be teaching German as it is her favorite language she speaks.
“I have a strong passion for German and languages, I actually speak eight different languages,” Mrs. Horn stated.

Her strong passion for not only German, but languages as a whole, has already proven to make her an amazing teacher. Similar to last year, there is hope that the students in her class will become familiar with the language and even interact with some of the exchange students we hope to bring to Muscatine.

“Language can shape how you think and how you view the world,” She added.

Horn has some amazing outlooks on learning new languages that are helping her students become as passionate as she is during class. She wants people to understand that she views languages as a good way to shape who you are and change how you look at the world to become a better person as you get to know not just the language, but the culture as well.

When asked what her favorite part of working at MHS so far she happily said, “The kids are my favorite part of teaching in Muscatine.”

Horn has had a great time at MHS so far this year regarding both the staff and her classes. Happy to have such great students with a passion for learning her favorite language, she is excited to learn more about them and teach them some amazing life lessons throughout the year.

“I think it’s important to improve yourself everyday in your life,” She said.

This mindset of accepting mistakes, growing, and improving on them is what she believes to make you a better person and she hopes to continue living by that to set a good example for her students.

With such an amazing new teacher here, consider joining German and experience having such an amazing role model by your side this year.

Written by: Maya Simpson

When people say school subjects often one thinks of math, science, English, etc., but there are many more options nowadays. Ms. Turnquist, a new teacher here at MHS, teaches Family Consumer Sciences or FCS.

“Family consumer sciences essentially encompasses a few different career paths. So that’s becoming a chef, so culinary arts, child development, so dealing with different childcare, hospitality, and tourism. So if you wanted to work at a hotel or something along those lines, that deals with tourists, as well as fashion marketing and design, interior design is encompassed with that as well. So technically, I’m licensed and I can teach all of those. But here at Muscatine High School, I just teach culinary arts and child development,” said Ms. Turnquist.

Turnquist has known she wanted to be a teacher as early as Kindergarten but it took her some time to figure out what subject she wanted to teach.

“I took a culinary class when I was in high school, and I really loved my teacher, and I fell in love with the content area. I got involved with FCCLA, which stands for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, which is a club that is organized because of FCS. It deals with that content area. And I just found, like, I had a huge passion for it. I loved it,” said Ms. Turnquist.

Not only did she find a passion for it she has felt her work to teach FCS has an impact on her students.

“I thought the content was real-world applicable, and in my head, I was like, I want to teach something that’s meaningful to students, and this is directly correlated with after you leave high school, regardless if you go into that career path or not, you’re going to deal with kids sometime in your life. You’re going to have to cook for yourself at some point, right? So it’s building those real-world skills that they’re going to be able to take out of my classroom and apply directly to their life after they leave high school,” said Ms. Turnquist.

This is Ms. Turnquist’s first year at MHS and as a teacher in general. Some students may already know her as she student taught last year. She has felt overwhelming support from her coworkers, especially in her hallway, and enjoys her relationships with the students. She is looking forward to a great first year of teaching at MHS.

Written  by: Vanessa Garcia

Sihisla Puentes is a first-year freshman and junior social studies teacher. You might have seen her around last year as she was in a student-teacher position. Working with fellow social studies teacher Mr. Smith, she was able to dip her toes into the position she’d be taking. Sihisla wasn’t always planning on becoming a teacher but took it upon herself to expand her horizons.

“Originally I was studying to be a nurse… I knew I still wanted to work with kids,” said Puentas. “I was already minoring in history so I decided to just major in it,” she added.

Before she started her position at the high school, she was a student teacher at SCJH for eight weeks. Sihisla then continued her role at the high school with Mr. Smith. After 16 weeks of being a student teacher, she took a position as a long-term sub in her hometown. Born in West Liberty, the transition was easy for her too.

Sihisla mentioned how much she already loves being a teacher here at the high school. While still young, she is able to relate to her students and even have similar interests. She knows how to spark a connection with them. Her personality is very upbringing which is exactly what MHS needs.

“I will always keep it real and be honest with them (students).”

Sihisla would like students to know her as someone who never gives up. She knows how important it is for students to set goals and to be able to achieve them.