Meet the new MTHS staff

TERRACE GREETS NEW STAFF FOR THE ‘22-‘23 SCHOOL YEAR

Stories by Terina Papatu and Jakob Nacanaynay Graphics by Arabella Devera

Joe Voirol

When Joe Voirol entered university, he didn’t plan on becoming a teacher. And when he did start teaching social studies, he didn’t plan on instructing math. Nonetheless, Voirol will be teaching world history 10 and Algebra

ALG 1 + WH10 1 this coming fall. Voirol moved to Washington from the midwest in 2018. After finding difficulty getting jobs in social studies, he decided to start teaching math as well, and last year he taught at College Place Middle and EdmondsWoodway High School. While seemingly a “strange combo,” becoming a math teacher was a simple transition for Voirol: he originally majored in engineering before he switched to teaching. In his free time, he likes to play video games, specifically made by Riot Games, like League of Legends and Team Fortress 2. At one point, he became one of the top 500 players in TF2. As a fellow introvert, Voirol already knows most of his students will be nervous. But, he says that in this atmosphere, he’ll be loud and “out there.” H

Coming to Washington from Texas, Jessica Jacobs is the new office manager at Terrace. Her reason for moving was because of a visit to her brother, when she realized that she loved Washington and took the opportunity in 2020 to move. In past years, she was an assistant OFFICE director at a preschool. As office manager, Jacobs takes care of the school budget, admin schedules and in short, keeps everything in the office running smoothly. As a mother, Jacobs spends a lot of time at soccer games, playing with legos and more. When she has time, Jacobs loves to sing and play acoustic guitar. She loves swimming in natural bodies of water like lakes, oceans and beaches. Jacobs began learning guitar almost 20 years ago, growing up in a musical family where her father taught her how to play. Even though she’s spending most of her time in the main office, with her love for music, Jacobs can look forward to the pep assemblies as well as musicals! H

Throughout the past few decades, English teacher Susan Mortensen has taught as an eighth grade teacher. She also tutored her children and their friends. Growing up in Chicago as the youngest of eight extroverted siblings, when she couldn’t express herself through speaking, Mortensen found her outlet in poetry. After a teacher took notice and published her work, Mortensen was inspired to take up writing, leading to today. In addition to making poetry, she loves reading as well. From Homer to Roald Dahl, she appreciates all corners of literature. Because of her teacher’s notice of her poetry, she felt seen and makes a point to make her students feel the same. Outside of school, Mortensen loves going outdoors, having been a wilderness trip leader for seven summers. Her garden, in a word: prolific. This year she grew 21 pumpkins and 100 pounds of zucchini. Mortensen loves high school activities, like band, cheerleading and theater. This year, she is looking forward to seeing the level of school spirit at MTHS. H

Jessica Jacobs

9TH & 11TH ENGLISH

Being born in India and moving to Maryland at a young age, English is Vaishali Bhatia’s second language. It is also the subject she will be teaching this year. She decided on teaching literature because she loves getting to know people through stories. When she started teaching, she was a student teacher at Loyola University Maryland. Bhatia and her husband wanted to move to the west coast for a long time because of their love for nature. They moved to Washington last spring after her husband got a job offer here. In her previous English classes she taught at Brier Terrace Middle school, one of her favorite lessons was letting her students teach her for a day. When she’s not teaching, Bhatia loves introspective writing. She also loves sleeping, reading, and playing Stardew Valley for a sense of nostalgia and hanging out with her two cats. Bhatia is looking forward to seeing her previous students learn, change and grow as people and collaborating with her colleagues. H

Kathleen Daspit is the new assistant principal at Terrace. A Southern California native, she moved to Washington in the early 2000s. Her varied background includes institutions from elementary schools to universities, public and private, both Montessori style and traditional teaching. Beginning as a teacher, she taught social studies, language arts, social studies and drama. Her previous job was principal of a pre-K-8 private school. When she was younger, the elementary school she attended was in a lower income neighborhood; yet, it was filled with teachers and staff that gave time to students and families who needed it, inspiring her to take on a career in education. When she’s not working, Daspit loves to read, play ukulele and bake. Taking a liking to Russian literature, her favorite book is “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. For the 2022-2023 school year, Daspit plans to get to know her way around the school and interact with the students, so when you’re going about your day you will most likely see her. H

Kathleen Daspit

Vaishali Bhatia

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Susan Mortensen

9TH & 11TH ENGLISH