Mrs. Chonko: The Teacher Above the Rest

Brittany Chonko, a Pennridge English teacher with an abundance of personality. While growing up, teaching is the only career path she envisioned herself in besides physical therapy. Being the best teacher is not just about education but also how they can influence students outside of the classroom. Comfort, conversations, motivation, and confidence are key aspects to making sure students are on the correct path to success, Chonko does it all.

In Chonko’s words, “the most important part of my practice is the relationships I have with kids.” This is shown by the outstanding work she does including student participation and making sure everyone is comfortable in the classroom. Many teachers seem to limit conversations between students while Chonko does the complete opposite. She states that “student involvement is authentic learning and I still am surprised by conversation, comments, and revelations that students have.” She also went out of her way to commend the youth for teaching her new information in the classroom. The job of a teacher is to help students learn and grow but Chonko also involves herself with that process, making her unique.

Many teachers have memorable traits, it comes with being a person. Chonko describes herself as “outgoing, friendly, relatable, and humorous.” She is indeed a well-rounded teacher bringing joy into many lives. As a former student, it was noticeable that everyone consistently had a smile on their faces while inside her classroom. The vibrant energy and amazing personality left students with life lessons and memories they will never forget. With this description, many might view her as a friend instead of a teacher, but she still is able to excel at her job. Being realistic and honest made expectations clear; students were motivated to write quality pieces and indulge themselves in each book or play no matter how boring they seemed to be. Chonko stated, “Teachers constantly make decisions and analyze in real-time each day.” With online learning, this was extremely obvious in her work. When schooling went back to normal, however, she was still analyzing each class, determining what was the best teaching method, energy, and personality for each class.

When you are a student, there are bound to be bad days. Sometimes we think that our moods are not noticeable, but that is completely false. Chonko admitted that her 11th-grade teacher asked if she was feeling okay. Although not being able to go into further detail, this strongly affected her enough to where she went back at the end of the year and thanked her. Chonko may not admit it, but this experience changed how she views students. Instead of pressuring her students to work on bad days, she goes out of the way to make sure they are okay and gives any helpful advice there is.

Chonko loves her work and treasures her students. She conducts valuable lessons that can be transferred into the world outside of school while making sure they succeed in their education and stay motivated while they’re at it. Even with all of the stress that comes with being a teacher, Chonko steps up and is the role model that every teacher strives to be. Inside her classroom, there is never a dull moment. Memorable lessons, friendships, and jokes are never forgotten by either her or the students she teaches.