DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER ISSUE
TEACHER INTERVIEWS
DAVID BALL (Social Studies)
David graduated from Hammond High School (Class of ’77) and received his Bachelor’s from Indiana University in Political Science, Economics and Education. He currently teaches Economics and AP Government. He chose teaching because he enjoys young people and knew he would like vigorous academic discussion. His favorite teacher was Mr. Ron Galosich (Mr. “G”), his high school government teacher. Dave recalls that Mr. “G” knew what he was talking about, made class fun and was interesting and cared about his students. When asked to list his professional and first career opportunities the list includes: having been a bartender, stock broker, accountant, computer programmer and a business owner. He has also served on two parochial school boards, was president of a conservation club and done some guest / substitute preaching. His family and his hobbies overlap. They all enjoy (to varying degrees, depending on the specific activity) rock climbing, backpacking, camping, running, and most outdoor activities.
KATE BLASKE (Science)
Kate Blaske is originally from Rockton, IL (between Rockford and Wisconsin state line) and graduated from Hononegah High School. She received a Bachelor's in Chemistry and Master's in Chemical Education from Purdue University. This is the first year Kate has taught Honors Chemistry and she is really enjoying being able to connect the material in that class in preparations for AP Chem. Her AP physics teacher Doc Carlton was her favorite teacher. While his teaching style was not what would be considered current, he made everything interesting by keeping everyone engaged and pushing everyone to be their best. Once she started taking education classes, she kept referring back to him and trying to figure out what he did to motivate his students. Prior to her teaching career, one of her first work experiences was at SC Johnson in Racine, WI (“a family company”) testing industrial floor cleaners and waxes. She also worked at Cargill, Inc in Decatur, AL doing QA on high fructose corn syrup. Kate also taught two levels of General Chemistry while she was a Masters student at Purdue. She and her husband enjoy taking their daughter to visit her parents’ house in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the summertime. Chloe always asks to go back to “Gramma and Papa’s beach”. This fall Kate plans on getting back into the craft show circuit with hand knits and quilts.
COREY EBERT (Social Studies)
Cory, a 2005 Avon Grad is in his 5th year of teaching. He currently teaches Senior Economics and Senior Government and is also the JV Basketball and JV Baseball Coach. He graduated from Butler University in 2009 with a degree in Secondary Education. When asked why he chose teaching, Cory said that he always enjoyed school and wanted to be a teacher. Mr. Ralph Hartnagel was his favorite teacher. He especially remembers that Mr. Hartnagel was very real and straight-forward with his students and did not sugarcoat things or spoon-feed information. He was the first teacher who really challenged Cory personally and forced him to start thinking critically as a learner. Cory and his wife Erin have been married for two years. She is the Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at AHS. They enjoy traveling, concerts and hanging out with their two dogs. He is the oldest of five kids and has a younger brother who will be a freshman next year at AHS. Cory is looking forward to helping another Senior Class come through and graduate.
CONNIE MOXLEY (Science)
Connie Moxley is originally from Whiteland, IN. She attended Texas A&M University and earned her Bachelor’s in Marine Biology and her Master’s in teaching from University of Indianapolis. She currently teaches Chemistry Honors, Biology Honors, and Genetics. She is really excited about teaching genetics again this year! Connie worked at Roche Diagnostics for five years in the coagulation department before she started teaching. She left Roche to become a teacher because when she was younger she loved helping others understand material. Teaching also allows her to spend more time with her children. Connie has been married for twelve years. She and her husband have three living children and they spend most of their free time chasing their 2-year old twins. When Connie gets the chance she enjoys reading and playing games.
LAURA JONES-ARCHER (Science)
Laura graduated from Logansport High School (Home of the Berries) in 1982 and went to Butler University where she earned her Bachelor's in Zoology. Laura currently teaches General Chemistry and Principles of the Biomedical Sciences (PBS). Prior to teaching at Avon Laura taught at Shelbyville High School for seven years where she also coached the academic team. She studied Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and Biochemistry at I.U. Bloomington earning her Master’s degree in 1993. It was while she was doing scientific research at I.U. that she realized that the part of scientific research she enjoyed was teaching what she had learned to others. She left the Doctoral program and signed up for student teaching and from then on she was hooked! Seeing ”light bulbs go on” for her students made her really happy. Her favorite teacher was her high school music teacher Joe Huffman. He was not only her teacher but also her coach and her hero. When asked about her professional experience Laura recalled that her first job entailed running the carousel in Logansport. She shared the fact that the experience of running a carousel taught her a lot about physics. She also worked as a quality control technician for Benchmark Chemicals after graduating from Butler and conducted research on homeotic genes at I.U. She loves spending time with my husband Bart and their children Elise (9) and Mason (7). Snow skiing is an activity they enjoy doing together. Something you might not know about Laura is that she is in the process of starting a lavender farm!