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October 9, 2018Introducing Mrs. Lynn Eckert: VASJ’s Latest Compassionate Heart
One of the most interesting aspects of VASJ, and any school really, is the faculty. This school year alone, we are seeing the addition of 10 new faces. We welcome all of these amazing new teachers and hope their first year at VASJ is one to never forget.
Out of these new additions, there is one whom I have had the immense pleasure to spotlight. Her name is Mrs. Lynn Eckert, and she is helping revolutionize the VASJ STEM program one student at a time.
My interview with Mrs. Eckert took place on a humid, September morning, in her wonderfully decorated classroom. I considered myself extremely lucky to have even pulled it off as the past three scheduled times were plagued with mild illness and the recent days off due to heat (the first in the school’s history, I might add).
Mrs. Eckert’s teaching career spans a respectable 44 years, rivaling that of veteran VASJ staff member Mr. William Raddell ’68, who stands at 47. Her career has taken her from the Westside gem of Lakewood High School to the former Montessori School in University Circle, to the Downtown-based WVIZ Ideastream. Needless to say, Mrs. Eckert has lived an active life.
She affirmed her love for teaching when asked about her background before coming to VASJ.
“I really love students,” Eckert says. “I love this age group. I’ve learned so much from them and they’re very fun.”
Mrs. Eckert got her inspiration to teach from some of her own teachers.
“I had a couple of teachers I really loved,”Eckert says. “I loved my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Smith. I loved my fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Johnson. I loved my fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Kelly,” she says. “I just always had teachers that were great. They were funny and interesting, and I couldn’t wait to go to school.”
Eckert instills in her students this same love and enthusiasm for school.
“I love the fact that sometimes I get students that come in and they just hate science, and they’ve never met me, and once they stay with me for a little while, I can turn them around where they really like science,” Eckert says.
As a science-lover myself, I can find it hard to believe that some of my peers dislike the awe-inspiring subject, but I have seen first-hand Mrs. Eckert’s ability to sway a student.
In addition to her interviewer, I am also her lab aide, and while I was in her class recently, setting up some equipment for a lesson, I couldn’t help but notice the way her students’ eyes lit up when she began teaching. She kept them engaged and on task, but made what could have been a lengthy lecture into one riddled with humor and entertainment.
“I’m a project-based teacher, meaning that I do one project after another,” Eckert says “I’m not a lecturer. I don’t think that’s a good way to learn. In fact, statistically, they say only 10% of the class learns through lecture.”
Her preference to have a more interactive curriculum will be put to great use this school year. In addition to being the Physics teacher, Mrs. Eckert is also the new Engineering instructor, and she has high hopes for the class.
“I really want it to take off,” she says
Her excitement peeked through her words.
“I told [Mr. Csank] you cannot do anything in this world without understanding engineering,” Eckert says. “I mean even coffee makers are high-tech. I want this to be a really huge program that everybody wants in.”
Along with a new lesson plan, Mrs. Eckert is bringing in plenty of resources from Tri-C’s downtown campus. She has secured several robotics kits that would have cost the school a large sum of money, as well as Tri-C student IDs for anyone in the Engineering class to use downtown.
The ID works just like any normal Tri-C ID, giving our students access to bus rides, computers, classes, and even the engineering department’s resources. The cherry on top? All of this comes at no cost to our students. In time, Eckert hopes to enable students to be able to graduate with plenty of college credits due to this program.
When asked why the inclusion of STEM programs is so crucial to the learning environment, Eckert asserted, “That’s the future.”
“Science and technology, and engineering go hand-and-hand. You can’t have one without the other.”
Her drive is very evident, even going as far as preparing tutoring lessons for any student who needs them well in advance to the first test.
“I’m going to get them the help they need so that they can succeed,” Eckert says. “In 40 years of teaching, no one has ever said ‘Mrs. Eckert, can I have an F.’ They’ve always said to me ‘can I please have the A?’ Everyone wants to succeed. No one wants to fail and I want to set them up so they succeed in life.”
Patrick Bradford ‘19 is a member of VASJ's AV Club, Drama Club, National Honor Society, and Public Relations Club. He is also an Academic Challenge Co-captain, Student Council Treasurer, and Yearbook Editor-in-Chief. He plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh and double-major in Journalism and Political Science.
