The 2025-26′ school year brought lots of new changes. New classes were introduced, new rules were enforced, and new teachers were hired to fill the spaces left by retirees or faculty that left to find new opportunities.
Those new teachers, Mr. Brennan Warner who teaches physics and chemistry, Mrs. Jennifer Hopkins who teaches environmental and STEM, and Teacher Ella Rossman who teaches 11th grade English, are adjusting to the new environment and learning the ropes of a completely different district than the ones they taught at before.
“Comparing it to [the school I previously taught at], I feel like it’s definitely smaller and the demographic is a lot different,” said Hopkins. “The behaviors have been a lot better and just a lot smoother.”
Hopkins described the absence of disciplinary problems in her classes as “relieving” and that Montoursville is “much more calm and relaxing” than Milton was when she taught there.
Warner, who had a substitute teaching job in Williamsport and taught at Jersey Shore while in college, has found some similarities and differences in the Montoursville community.
“A similarity [between Jersey Shore and Montoursville] is that they are both close knit communities,” said Warner. “Everyone supports each other.”
Warner said that at Williamsport, one could “just get lost” but that in Montoursville, “you can really get to know everyone”.
Rossman has had a similar experience with an encouraging student body and faculty.
“I really love how supportive the teachers are of each other, not just the students,” Rossman said. “I love the teacher culture.”
All three new faculty members said that all of the teachers were helping them to adjust.
“Miss Sweeney is my mentor teacher, and that has been wonderful,” Rossman said. “She’s always giving me tips and helping me out with resources.”
Hopkins and Warner have also banded together with the teachers in the science department.
“Mr. Warner and I are always popping into each other’s rooms and asking ‘do you need anything?’,” Hopkins said. “It’s a really close department.”
Warner agreed that the science department faculty have been instrumental in adapting to his new position.
“[The science department staff] have been great at helping me get adjusted and settled in,” Warner said.
As well as the faculty, Rossman said they are enjoying the students they get to teach.
“I am kind of not like any teacher many of these kids have ever had, because I use gender neutral pronouns,” Rossman said. “I think people don’t give credit where credit is due for this kind of [rural] school…[the students] are kind, understanding, and empathetic, and I think more people need to recognize that.”
Despite the warm welcome from the students and faculty, there have been some difficulties with the new teaching positions as well.
“It’s my first time teaching physics,” Warner said.
As a Lycoming College graduate, Warner studied and got a degree in chemistry, so while teaching chemistry in place of Miss Hannah Ostrander is his “forte,” he must also learn to teach a completely new subject.
“At the end of the day, I’ve taken physics classes because of my more in-depth chemistry background,” Warner said. “It makes a weird branch of science, but I’ve had exposure to [physics] and so far [teaching physics] is going great.”
For Hopkins, the challenge was less about the subject and more about the time she had to prepare to teach her subjects.
“[I got the offer to teach at Montoursville] four days before I was supposed to be here,” Hopkins said. “I think [the biggest challenge] has just been how fast everything happened and not having the summer to prepare.”
The staff members have experienced their first weeks at Montoursville and it has set the stage for their upcoming year.
“Being a new teacher is kind of like being Spider Man,” Rossman said. “You take hit after hit, but there’s nothing else you’d rather do.”
Featured Photo (At top): Environmental and STEM teacher Mrs. Jennifer Hopkins sits at her desk during her 9th period AP Environmental class. The class has been working on their new lab handout about primary productivity after completing the final portion of their experiment. Photo taken by Ryleigh McConnaughhay
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