Staff Spotlight with Mrs. Hartz

 Victory Obielodan

     There is a fine line between a numerator and a denominator, but only a fraction of people will find this funny. If you don’t, Mrs. Hartz may have the right one for you.
     It’s Mrs Hartz’s second year here at PHS and it seems that she learned a lot from her first year. She told The Voice, “...something that I’ve learned from my first year is to always keep reflecting, because you never do something right the first time--well maybe you do it right, but there’s always a way you can do it better. So, you should always take some time to write down how it went, and then think about how you can improve yourself and I think that goes for students as well.” This says quite a bit about Mrs. Hartz and her character, but here are a few fun facts about her.
     Every teacher has their “duh” moments; Mrs. Hartz recalled one of hers from earlier this year. It turns out she had been pronouncing “linear” wrong: stressing the e instead of the i. She didn’t realize it until her Algebra II class told her. It just so happens that Algebra II is her favorite math topic. She says Geometry is good, but she likes “teaching the algebra of it… I like the algebra and equations better.” She says, “...my favorite memory so far… was at the end of the school year last year, when I had so many students that had then had me for a year just say nice things about how they had a good year with me, and that they thought I was a good teacher, and that they learned something…”
     As a piece of advice for everyone, Mrs. Hartz says remember to be kind to one another because you never know what someone is going through. For students thinking about going into mathematics, she says “Do it!” For everyone, she says to think about what you’re gifted in. She didn’t start off knowing she was going to be a math teacher, but she worked on her gifts and here she is now.
     That’s a bit of information on Mrs. Hartz. One last fact is her birthday is October 18th . So don’t forget to wish her a belated happy birthday.