One Friday morning in December, a row of teachers stood by the HS gym, ready to get their faces "pie-d". Among the line-up stood Mr. Seavey, Mr. Earley, Mr. Doleman, and wait… Who’s that? Unless you have her for English 9 or AP Language and Composition, you probably don’t know Ms. Natalie Stitt, an amazing new asset to the SAS community.
Ms. Stitt is from Holland, Michigan. To her delight, it was recently ranked as the second happiest city in the U.S. Perhaps that’s where Ms. Stitt gets her never-fading energy and positivity.
With the abundance of chameleon breeders in Michigan, Ms. Stitt herself has "chameleon-like abilities." Wherever she teaches, she’s able to fit in. When she was teaching in Los Angeles with a largely Latino population, many thought that she was of Latin American descent. While working on the Navajo Reservation, people thought she was Navajo. "Now that I’m at SAS, though, I truly fit in—I’m half Chinese!"
Growing up, Ms. Stitt was an athlete. She remembers the many doctors who had made a huge difference in helping her recover when she got injured. This inspired her to become a sports medicine doctor.
"When I started a pre-med major in college, I quickly realized that I needed and wanted to explore other passions,” Ms. Stitt mused. Now, she is glad that she made that choice, for she was able to find her passion in teaching.
Having a teacher as a mother, Ms. Stitt despised the idea of teaching as a profession. After college, she followed the advice of her college mentor and professor, Brian Collier, and decided to participate in a volunteer program. The program gave Ms. Stitt the opportunity to teach middle school students on the Navajo Reservation. Throughout the program, Ms. Stitt learned many things about teaching and slowly discovered that this was something she really enjoyed.
She wanted to continue to improve as a teacher so she decided to join another education program, the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE). "ACE is a program through Notre Dame [University] that serves underprivileged Catholic schools," Ms. Stitt noted. "It [provided me] the opportunity to earn a Master of Education degree and teaching license." Eventually, that brought her here to SAS.
There is a common stereotype that all English teachers are bookworms. What many do not realize is that this cliche is actually true for many English teachers, including Ms. Stitt. When asked about her views on reading and writing as pastimes, Ms. Stitt was exuberant. "I could read all day and be more than content," she replied excitedly. "I would love to write more, but reading is definitely a passion." When she was younger, she loved fantasy, but now she loves many genres: "Historical fiction, biographies/autobiographies, science fiction, classic literature… I'm open to anything!"
To the avid readers out there, be sure to check out Ms. Stitt’s recent reads. She strongly recommends Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, a sci-fi novel about video games that "sounds nerdy but is an incredible book"; Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the story of Louie Zamperini; and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the result of a collaboration between Alex Haley and Malcolm X. "I had always thought growing up that I wouldn't enjoy autobiographies much," she admitted, "but this is a fantastic book."
Being new to the huge SAS family, Ms. Stitt couldn’t help but note the differences between SAS and the schools she used to teach at. "Students all over the world definitely share similarities, but my teaching program was focused on working in underprivileged schools across the United States," she pointed out. "Many of these schools were very under-resourced and had an impoverished student population. The students, like SAS students, were wonderful, but working in a school with few resources definitely has given me great appreciation for the opportunities that SAS provides for students." Too many of us forget how lucky we are to be able to go to a school like SAS. Instead of venting about the quality of Sodexo’s food or the price of Winter Formal tickets, perhaps we should show some more gratefulness to the assets and opportunities we get to enjoy that others do not.
Amid college applications for seniors and the start of college researching for juniors, there are many students who still have "I don’t know" as the answer to the burning question: what do I want to major in or become after college? Those of you are not alone, because Ms. Stitt knows exactly how that feels.
"After I dropped my pre-med major, I was terrified because I didn't know what to do," she remembered nostalgically. "Then, when I became an English major, I was even more anxious—what do people do with English degrees?" Eventually, Ms. Stitt was able to find her path as an English teacher.
To anyone who is anxious about their future, here are Ms. Stitt’s words of advice: "Keep an open mind and explore any and all opportunities. It's hard to see how things will work out looking forward, but when I look back at my life, I can definitely see how the dots have connected to lead me where I am today."
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| Photo courtesy of Ms. Stitt |
With the abundance of chameleon breeders in Michigan, Ms. Stitt herself has "chameleon-like abilities." Wherever she teaches, she’s able to fit in. When she was teaching in Los Angeles with a largely Latino population, many thought that she was of Latin American descent. While working on the Navajo Reservation, people thought she was Navajo. "Now that I’m at SAS, though, I truly fit in—I’m half Chinese!"
Growing up, Ms. Stitt was an athlete. She remembers the many doctors who had made a huge difference in helping her recover when she got injured. This inspired her to become a sports medicine doctor.
"When I started a pre-med major in college, I quickly realized that I needed and wanted to explore other passions,” Ms. Stitt mused. Now, she is glad that she made that choice, for she was able to find her passion in teaching.
Having a teacher as a mother, Ms. Stitt despised the idea of teaching as a profession. After college, she followed the advice of her college mentor and professor, Brian Collier, and decided to participate in a volunteer program. The program gave Ms. Stitt the opportunity to teach middle school students on the Navajo Reservation. Throughout the program, Ms. Stitt learned many things about teaching and slowly discovered that this was something she really enjoyed.
 |
| View of the Navajo Reservation from Window Rock, courtesy of Ms. Stitt |
There is a common stereotype that all English teachers are bookworms. What many do not realize is that this cliche is actually true for many English teachers, including Ms. Stitt. When asked about her views on reading and writing as pastimes, Ms. Stitt was exuberant. "I could read all day and be more than content," she replied excitedly. "I would love to write more, but reading is definitely a passion." When she was younger, she loved fantasy, but now she loves many genres: "Historical fiction, biographies/autobiographies, science fiction, classic literature… I'm open to anything!"
To the avid readers out there, be sure to check out Ms. Stitt’s recent reads. She strongly recommends Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, a sci-fi novel about video games that "sounds nerdy but is an incredible book"; Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the story of Louie Zamperini; and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the result of a collaboration between Alex Haley and Malcolm X. "I had always thought growing up that I wouldn't enjoy autobiographies much," she admitted, "but this is a fantastic book."
Being new to the huge SAS family, Ms. Stitt couldn’t help but note the differences between SAS and the schools she used to teach at. "Students all over the world definitely share similarities, but my teaching program was focused on working in underprivileged schools across the United States," she pointed out. "Many of these schools were very under-resourced and had an impoverished student population. The students, like SAS students, were wonderful, but working in a school with few resources definitely has given me great appreciation for the opportunities that SAS provides for students." Too many of us forget how lucky we are to be able to go to a school like SAS. Instead of venting about the quality of Sodexo’s food or the price of Winter Formal tickets, perhaps we should show some more gratefulness to the assets and opportunities we get to enjoy that others do not.
Amid college applications for seniors and the start of college researching for juniors, there are many students who still have "I don’t know" as the answer to the burning question: what do I want to major in or become after college? Those of you are not alone, because Ms. Stitt knows exactly how that feels.
"After I dropped my pre-med major, I was terrified because I didn't know what to do," she remembered nostalgically. "Then, when I became an English major, I was even more anxious—what do people do with English degrees?" Eventually, Ms. Stitt was able to find her path as an English teacher.
To anyone who is anxious about their future, here are Ms. Stitt’s words of advice: "Keep an open mind and explore any and all opportunities. It's hard to see how things will work out looking forward, but when I look back at my life, I can definitely see how the dots have connected to lead me where I am today."
