Jana Flinkow is an assistant principal at Homewood High School.
Q: How long have you been a teacher and what subjects do you teach?
A: I'm entering my 16th year in education. All 16 years have been at Homewood. I started at Homewood Middle School as a world history teacher, and then moved to Homewood High School where I served as a US history teacher and then AP US history teacher. Last year, I served as a grade level administrator. And this year I will be the assistant principal of curriculum and instruction.
Q: What inspired you to become an educator?
A: What made me want to be an educator was a person. Um, I had a 9th grade history teacher, Coach Stole, who was a history teacher, and young life leader. Um and he made history come alive and he made it interesting and intriguing and I saw purpose in it and he's what made me want to become an educator. And then as I went into college, I realized how much I loved working with high school kids. And I wanted to continue that on.
Q: Tell us about your favorite teacher from when you were in school.
A: My favorite teacher when I was in school was a coach, and his name was Coach Stole. Coach Sole was my first um history teacher where I really grew to love history and he was my young life leader and he just made history come alive. He made it fun, he made it exciting, he told stories and it wasn't just learning facts. Um, but more than that we knew he cared about us and he cared about us in school and out of school.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
A: The most rewarding part of being an educator is 100% the students. There is nothing like being in downtown Homewood and seeing a student who you taught 10 or 12 years ago, run up to you and say, hey, Miss Flinkow, guess what I'm doing now, or going to an old student's baby shower or student's wedding. Um but just seeing these students grow and truly maximize their unique potential as adults is 100% the most rewarding thing about being a teacher.
