Joe Oleniczak – Algebra I, Geometry, Computer Science
Joe Oleniczak has been teaching for four years, all of them at Shorewood. Oleniczak was placed here for a student teaching assignment, which soon turned into his career.
“My director at Marquette asked me what I was looking for in a school, and I basically described Shorewood,” Oleniczak said.
Prior to teaching at Shorewood, Oleniczak was an accountant. However, during the pandemic, he realized he wanted to shift gears.
“I wanted to give back to the community and help prepare the next generation to be future leaders,” Oleniczak said.
Oleniczak comes from a family involved in education. His mom was a guidance counselor and his younger sister is a teacher.
“Education has always been a big part of my family,” Oleniczak said.
In addition to his family’s focus on education, Shorewood’s values and policies are a large part of why Oleniczak chose to teach here.
“[Shorewood’s ideology] very much aligns with what I believe,” Oleniczak said. “I think Shorewood does a really great job at making equity, diversity, relationships with teachers, and engagement a number one priority.”
Oleniczak enjoys making connections with students through sports, math, and fun banter.
“Yes, I’m in charge, but I don’t want to feel like I have this power dynamic over my class,” Oleniczak said. “I try to make it feel like it’s a communal space and we work on things together.”
Oleniczak aims to create an engaging, challenging learning environment with clear expectations. He says that personal involvement plays a large part in achieving this goal.
“I try to create that sense of ownership, because I could teach every single minute of every single class, but as a math teacher, I recognize that it can get boring,” Oleniczak said.
Oleniczak also enjoys teaching at Shorewood because of the students. He admires their respect for each other and members of the staff.
“Every day, I’ll see a student do something out of the kindness of their heart, and they’ll just do it for somebody else without a teacher telling them to do it,” Oleniczak said.
Oleniczak’s main piece of advice for students is to put effort into their schoolwork.
“If you show that you’re trying and you’re putting in the effort, teachers will see that,” Oleniczak said. “It’ll be helpful for not just schoolwork and a grade and getting homework done on time but that will transition to your outside world too.”
Oleniczak strives to teach his students life skills like diligence, respect, and good communication.
“If [you] ask to do a test correction, tell me when and where and hold yourself to that meeting,” Oleniczak said. “You want to honor that. Otherwise, it’s kind of like it’s an afterthought.”
Oleniczak is working on a way to create more difficult material to help higher-achieving students stay engaged.
“If a student isn’t challenged enough, they’re gonna disengage in my class, so I’m trying to find that balance of creating more difficult work that’s not adding on work,” Oleniczak said.
Outside of school, Oleniczak plays in multiple sports leagues, plays video games, reads and plays trivia with friends.
“[These hobbies] balance my life out to make sure I’m not just only focused on school all the time,” Oleniczak said.
Lisa McFarland – French 1, French 2, New Horizons
Lisa McFarland came to Shorewood seven years ago but has been teaching for a total of nine years. McFarland started learning French in high school, but it wasn’t until college that she was truly inspired to teach and learn more about it.
“My desire to teach arose from my own high school experience, which wasn’t as engaging or fulfilling as it could have been,” McFarland said. “I took French all through high school but never truly connected with it or my teachers. In fact, my love for learning was fostered by my professors at UW-Milwaukee.”
However, McFarland traveled with her family to complete her education at another college.
“From UW-Milwaukee, I moved with my husband to Madison and while he did his graduate work at the university I completed my teacher training at Edgewood College,” McFarland said.
To McFarland, it was clear that her professors loved what they did and were invested in the success of all their students. McFarland aims to do the same with her own students, creating an environment where students feel good about themselves.
“I love being a part of the journey, positive or negative, as we need both to become our best selves,” McFarland said. “We are better as a collective; our different backgrounds, personalities and learning styles are an asset and provide opportunities for personal growth and non-binary thought.”
McFarland also pursued education because of the students and the concept of helping them learn what they want to do in their future.
“I enjoy being around young energy and innovation,” McFarland said. “I learn just as much from my students as they hopefully learn from me. And most importantly, they make me laugh.”
McFarland also traveled abroad during college, and outside of school she loves to travel with her husband and children, and do anything in nature.
McFarland emphasizes the importance of overcoming challenges as a student.
“Don’t be afraid to struggle while learning, it’s when the magic happens,” McFarland said. “And connect with your teachers, we’re human and only want the best for each of you.”
McFarland teaches French 1 and 2 in the morning, then New Horizons in the afternoon.
“Both are equally fulfilling for different reasons,” McFarland said. “You’ll have the opportunity to get to know more about New Horizons School and my students at our all school assembly March 6. We’re doing some amazing things, can’t wait to share!”
McFarland acknowledges that, like anything else, teaching will have struggles to overcome.
“The most difficult part of teaching for me is finding the time and energy to be present for my students while evolving curriculum and juggling the other responsibilities of teaching,” McFarland said. “I imagine it’s how students feel as well.”
Mc Farland supports the school values and beliefs and loves working at Shorewood.
“I am proud to work at Shorewood,” McFarland said. “It is an amazing school guided by two incredible administrators that are both student and teacher centered. Mr. Kenny and Ms. Jamerson make every effort to create a safe and equitable space for all. My colleagues are the best. I am surrounded by outstanding friends, mentors and so much brain power, each fueling me daily to do my best.”
Eric Mathews – AP Environmental Science, Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Literature and Science, Watershed Wisdom
Eric Mathews has been teaching for 15 years, 12 of which have been at Shorewood. After graduating from SHS himself, Mathews went to UW-Madison, and it was during college that he was inspired to pursue a career in education.
“During college, I was doing a lot of coaching and outdoor education or outdoor leadership stuff,” Mathews said. “Both of those were really inspiring to me in terms of the impact that coaches and leaders and teachers can have on the future [and] young people’s lives.”
Mathews finds that he is able to see the effect of his work on students and the world every day. He believes that this constant, observable change sets teaching apart from other professions.
“My favorite part of teaching is the daily realization that the work I’m doing as a professional person is having an impact on the future in a meaningful way,” Mathews said. “I try to have a classroom that is simultaneously quite rigorous, but also inspires students to want to be a part of that rigorous process, because I think, in the long run, that’s how a class has a lasting impact.”
Mathews notes that the world of education is constantly evolving over time based on different laws surrounding education, the physical changes in the environment, and crises, like illness, that are out of our control. This means that teachers need to be flexible and adapt to the changes thrown their way. Mathews finds this can be one of the most difficult things that comes with the profession.
“There are so many factors that are outside of our control that influence educational decision making and policy,” Mathews said. ”And so, as the trends, and as the theories, and as the political winds change, it influences what we’re asked to do as teachers, and sometimes that gets burdensome.”
While different periods of time bring different types of biases and challenges, Mathews doesn’t think that it gets more or less difficult to teach depending on law or societal changes.
“Education has always been influenced by trends,” Mathews said. “One of the things that teachers often have to deal with is the so-called ‘soup du jour’ of whatever’s trendy in the moment, and that’s almost apolitical. It’s just people get ideas about what should be done in education, and then that is told to teachers, even if it’s not necessarily rooted in good pedagogy.”
If giving advice to new teachers, Mathews thinks it’s important for one to find what sets them apart from other educators and use that to help benefit students by creating new, unique opportunities.
“Work really hard and be creative,” Mathews said. ”If you do those things, you’re going to create a niche for yourself in the educational world that is unique to you as an individual, professional person. That fosters a great deal of satisfaction in the long run.”
Outside of school, Mathews enjoys a variety of adventurous, outdoor activities, his favorite being rock-climbing. He also likes attending different cultural events and makes sure to balance those interests with teaching and general life.
“I also have a family, and the demands of teaching full-time and having a family and then having these interests is a lot to juggle,” Mathews said, “But I think I have a pretty clear compass inside, and I think I do a good job of following that compass and understanding kind of the hierarchy of how work and family and hobbies fit together to create a satisfying life.”