Molly Kempfer
Molly Kempfer, building substitute, grew up deeply connected to education. Raised in Verona, California, she was surrounded by a family that encouraged her to explore multiple passions, including music, academics, and language-learning. Those interests stuck with Kempfer and she developed a particular love for science, theater, and Spanish.
Not wishing to leave them behind when she headed off to pursue a BA in Music Theater at Carthage College, Kempfer also minored in Spanish and took physics classes. After graduating, she began her substitute career. Flexible hours gave her the freedom to audition during the day while staying connected to education.
Now in her sixth year of substitute teaching, Kempfer has many educational experiences under her belt, including work as a Sunday school teacher, Spanish tutor, and scene shop technician. Outside of school, she’s equally busy in the roles of professional actor, director, choreographer, youth choir leader, and theater teacher. In her (limited) free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and practicing aerial silks.
For Kempfer, substitute teaching continues to offer the best of both worlds. Full-time teaching, she says, wouldn’t exactly fit into that delicate equation.
“I know that if I were to have my own class, I wouldn’t be able to show up for [them] the way I would want to,” Kempfer said. “I wouldn’t be able to take theatrical opportunities that would take me away from my class, and I wouldn’t have the time or energy to throw myself whole-heartedly into my craft. I still get opportunities to teach within theatrical spheres and I love that.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching, Kempfer says, is connecting with students.
“The best moments are when students go out of their way to share with me about their life: how their weekend was, how the last test went, what they’re looking forward to,” Kempfer said. “A close second is when a student has an “a-ha” moment and understands something they’ve been struggling with. It’s rewarding getting to help facilitate the learning process.”
The work certainly isn’t without its challenges. Kempfer finds it helpful when full-time teachers and students are willing to cooperate with their substitute teachers. On the flip side, her workload increases when that isn’t the case.
“The easiest days are when teachers provide clear sub plans with all the materials out and labeled as needed and students show up ready to learn and engage with the material,” Kempfer said. “The most difficult days are when there isn’t enough material to last the whole hour, or it breaks with the routine, or when students are totally apathetic to the material and inconsiderate of the people working around them.”
At Shorewood, Kempfer describes her experience as generally positive.
“On average, I feel like a valued member of the team,” Kempfer said. “I know teachers have my back and hopefully they know I have theirs.”
At the same time, Kempfer sees larger issues within the education system.
“There’s a strange dichotomy between the desperation for subs being touted by the education system and the way subs tend to be treated within it,” Kempfer said. “Amidst outcries for the need for more teachers and more substitutes ‘for the children,’ there is a prevailing attitude that subs don’t deserve certain pay or benefits because they are ‘just a sub.’ It is discouraging, to say the least.”
Kempfer also worries about the direction of the American education system. Instead of its push towards a linear path of high school as a stepping stone to college, a career, and ultimately a “good life,” she wishes humans’ innate love of learning was placed at center focus.
“Spend a day with a three-year-old and you will see a voracious curiosity to learn about the world around them; an hour with a kindergartner will get you excited speeches about what they’re learning in school and how cool it is,” Kempfer said. “The common theme with high [schoolers], however, seems to be concern for what grade they’ll get on a test, rather than whether they understand the material. It’s understandable. The American education system takes something that is intrinsically motivated like learning and adds extrinsic motivators like grades.”
Kempfer describes a large-scale societal shift away from grades and towards the intrinsic value of knowledge and genuine comprehension of material as ideal. This idea fits into her broader vision for the future of education.
“I hope the education landscape will become less politically fraught with parents, teachers, and administration working side-by-side to invest in the next generation,” Kempfer said. “I hope the focus will be to teach them to think critically about the world around them, to give them the courage to shape the society they want to live in, and to pursue their goals with integrity.”
Michael Pledl
Michael Pledl, long-term substitute, graduated from SHS in 2002. His early adulthood included “a series of pretty terrible jobs,” including package sorting and working at a gas station. He then spent a decade as a theater sound and light technician before eventually finding himself at a Trader Joe’s in Santa Cruz, California. After 13 years in this position, he says that things began to change.
“I’ve always had a passion for learning, and I like sharing what I know,” Pledl said. “After I’d gotten a couple of death threats from people upset about having to wait in line to get some frozen mandarin orange chicken, I got motivated to go back to college.”
That decision eventually led him to substitute teaching, which he saw as a way to test whether he wanted to pursue teaching full-time. Since then, he has primarily worked within the district, a building substitute at both the intermediate and high school levels. He is currently a long-term substitute for Eric Matthews, SHS science teacher (and former classmate!)
Long-term substituting, Pledl says, is quite different from the day-to-day routine of a building sub.
“You show up [as a building sub], you don’t usually know what you’re going to be doing,” Pledl said. “The expectations are different, too; keeping things on track for a single day is just so entirely a different scope than achieving an entire semester of learning and handing the class back to a teacher. Think of the sort of anxiety students feel when they turn in a project, when it’s going to be assessed, graded; the bigger the project, the longer you’ve spent on it, the more the anxiety, right?”
In his free time, Pledl is busy with woodworking and remodeling his house. He also enjoys reading books with his wife and games of all kinds. One of his favorite parts of teaching is watching students excel in their extracurriculars.
“Seeing all of the amazing things that students do, seeing everything that they can accomplish, all of the awesome things they can be, is really excellent,” Pledl said. “It’s easy to get focused in as a teacher, see a student as who they are in my classroom; seeing the kind of amazing things students can do in extracurriculars really helps break me out of that mindset.”
Pledl is critical of larger educational trends, particularly when it comes to the lack of accountability among adults in terms of policy.
“There’s this process of abstracting away the good memories, the good experiences, the good results,” Pledl said. “Adults, people that are done with education…don’t understand, or don’t realize, or don’t care, that the teacher who they think is great is negatively impacted by the choices they support regarding cutting education funding, or their union being dismantled. The lack of awareness [and] connecting their choices about politics leading directly to larger class sizes for their kids, for their [neighbors’] kids, that’s a problem.”
The fallout of the 2024 election especially has raised existential questions for public education. Looking ahead, Pledl anticipates substantial challenges, especially those disproportionately placed upon lower-income schools.
“Donald Trump has, as one of his stated goals, the dismantling [of] the Department of Education, and all sorts of associated controls on what teachers will be teaching,” Pledl said. “That’s less clear than ‘destroy the Department of Education’ but the outlines of it are pretty terrible, and it’s possible that it’d require stuff that I’m just not willing to do, or say, or be.”
In spite of this, Pledl has decided to pursue a degree in Conservation and Environmental Science as well as a certificate in science education.
Going forward, he hopes to see a more collaborative process between teachers, families, and students.
“What I want [education] to look like [in the future] is the same, but better,” Pledl said. “More resources, so there’s smaller class sizes, more individualized material, more opportunities for each student to find their particular excellence…One of the things I wished I’d been more aware of, more active with, was that what I wanted as a student mattered. If I’d spent the time on it, if I’d gone to my teachers and talked about what I was interested in and suggested working on something else and committed to it, I think they’d have been receptive…I know I would be receptive to that, and would take it into consideration for what I’m doing, what I’m teaching.”
Lloyd Hanson
Lloyd Hanson, long-time district sub, has spent decades devoted to education. Growing up in Cedarburg before it was “scenic, historic, and expensive,” he graduated from Cedarburg High School before earning his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He later completed a Master of Arts in Teaching and began a career at Cudahy that would see him teach American Lit, British Lit, and AP Lit for 34 years.
After retiring in 2005, he decided to begin substitute teaching and hasn’t looked back for two decades. As a sub, he has mainly stayed within the district.
“It’s been great fun,” Hanson said. “It’s a great place to come and work. Staff is amazing [and] kids are really nice.”
For Hanson, subbing is a way to continue his passion for teaching in a less stressful environment.
“It keeps me young mentally, and I didn’t want to just stop teaching,” Hanson said. “I had other little hobbies, but nothing that I found as fulfilling as this. So, as long as I’m able, I’ll be here.”
Some may wonder about the secret to Hanson’s patient, calm demeanor over the years. To that he says: a healthy sense of humor.
“I always take the subject matter seriously, but I never take myself too seriously,” Hanson said. “I think the attitude [not to] take anything personally [helps]. These are kids. They’re learning.”
Hanson particularly enjoys one-on-one interactions with students and staff, especially those with whom he’s been able to build a relationship with over the years. This year’s seniors who have gone through the district, for example, will have known him since they were 12. He believes his familiarity with many students allows him to thrive in a classroom.
“I don’t think I am necessarily treated differently [from a full-time teacher], because kids see me so often,” Hanson said. “It’s not a novelty, and they don’t try to play the game I refer to as ‘sink the sub,’ and behave obnoxiously, because I’m basically a regular here…Nothing’s new, nothing’s different, because everybody knows everybody else. There’s a comfort zone there and a trust zone.”
Hanson says he feels valued and supported at Shorewood, but knows that isn’t the case in every district. In light of this, he believes in recognizing the importance of the unique role of subs.
“It’s important for a sub to realize [they’re] part of an overall education,” Hanson said. “We serve a definite purpose. We should be proud of that role we play, and, you know, that makes me feel good.”
Hanson says he also brings a unique perspective to the classroom, shaped by experience.
“Personally, given my age, I think I offer kids a different perspective, because I’m at such a different place in my life, as opposed to most of the other teachers,” Hanson said. “If I could give kids one gift, it would be perspective…What’s a crisis for you now may not be such a bad thing after all.”