Mrs. Eckert balances so many tasks with family, work and more. How does she do it?  

As I was walking down the hallway, my stomach was dropping constantly and I felt like the hallway could not be longer. I felt as though I was in a movie and I was trying to walk forward but the person watching kept pressing rewind, rewind and making me be pulled back, although I thought I was moving forward. With a computer in one hand and an ipad in the other my heart was pounding in my chest, and the butterflies were throwing a party in my stomach.  When I got to her office, she was there waiting for me. She looked eager to talk, but calm and steady. My first thought was: this is going to be okay. With a love for traveling, Mrs. Eckert has been to around thirty-five different countries, including teaching in Italy! When she was there, she ate gelato, some other food and then some more gelato. This shows me that she loves to try new things and she not afraid. She taught at a school that was kindergarten through twelfth grade. She was meant to work with a school. She is patient with everybody around her, is kind and helpful. She taught sixth grade math and science, eighth grade math and English, and English in the high school, all in Rome, Italy! She told me that she got to travel around Italy and see beautiful places and did not regret it. This shows me that she has an adventurous spirit. She travels frequently, but never forgets her family. “I love to play with my family, I love to be outside with them, go hiking, play sports…” those are just a few things she does in her free time, on weekends and right after work. Her family means the world to her and she loves to be around them. Even when she was a little girl she loved traveling : “My family loved to go on adventures, we went camping…” Just like my family, she went all the way to the west on a road trip and loved it. She went to the Grand Canyon, California Coast and more places, in just a few days! Again, spending time with family! Road trips are so fun because you get to try new things, see new things, learn new things, and make up new things to do in the car.


“I played piano for twelve years starting in Kindergarten,” she replied when I asked if she ever played an instrument. Playing any instrument takes patience and Mrs. Eckert has so much of that. She is also a hard worker and sets goals that she is determined to reach. When I asked her a question she would listen to the entire thing and then think about her answer and then would tell me. She is thoughtful with whatever she does and says and that sets a good example to other people. She continued to tell me about her amazing history teacher and class in college.“ He was so passionate about what he was teaching and U.S. history that he really made all  his classes come to life.” She said that they weren’t only studying the past but the present too. It was also paired with community service so they would be outside and connect dots and she loved it. She also liked English in high school because just like me, she loves to read and has read many series and individual books, her favorite being those that are fiction. As she told me this I smiled realizing we are so similar. I like that feeling.

When I asked if she had a personal motto, she answered: “To live everyday to its fullest and be thankful for the small things.” It inspired me to make my own motto. You should too. Speaking of thankful, she told me what one of favorite gifts to recieve is. Mrs. Eckert’s favorite gift is a simple, but perfect, picture book of her and her family. This year, “I came home one day right before Christmas and Mr. Eckert had taken my phone when I wasn’t looking and downloaded all the pictures on my phone to his computer and turned them into a book.” She told me because she takes pictures on her phone but doesn’t always do anything with them. I loved interviewing Mrs. Eckert and I suggest you take some time to stop and get to know someone, may it be a student, faculty member, or staff, a little better.

Paisley Pecchia