#Between2BlueDevils

Ms. Wilmoth has been teaching for 20 years, most of which have been in the Tallmadge City Schools. She is the proud mother of Quinn, a 7 year old young man who loves football, pizza, and adventures with mom. Ms. Wilmoth can often be heard giving her students the following advice: take opportunities as they come your way as they may unexpectedly  lead you to where you want to go. Such great advice for not only our high school students, but for all of those listening to this episode!! 

Ms. Wilmoth became a teacher due to the influence of her 2nd grade teacher. She would often "play teacher" as she was growing up. She knew at an early age she wanted to impact lives in the classroom.

Ms. Wilmoth loves being in the classroom establishing relationships with the kids. She cannot wait for the day that school becomes normal again. In the meantime she continues to invest in our kids, making sure they feel safe, valued, and most of all LOVED.

Enjoy getting to know my co-teacher, and my friend, Ms. Lisa Wilmoth.

This week we sit down with Tallmadge High School Science teacher Mrs. Amy Lewis.  Aim, as her friends refer to her, is married to Geoff and they have three children. Their two daughters are twins, and are seniors at Hoover High School. Their son is soon to turn 13.

Mrs. Lewis and her family love to spend summers on their boat and on the beach. While there you will probably catch her reading her favorite romance novel. Reading time is an opportunity to escape from all that is going on. Being the hopeless romantic she loves to keep Nicolas Sparks employed. During the school year she reads articles and studies pertaining to her area of expertise. She seeks out knowledge to help teach her students. 

Mrs. Lewis spends all of her free time watching her kids compete in sports. Her daughters are avid swimmers and divers, and her son plays football and other sports.

Amy is most looking forward to getting things back to normal this year. She is so excited to having kids back in the classroom full time. 

Mrs. Lewis has been teaching for 26 years, and every one of those years has been in Tallmadge City Schools.

Her life quote is "Do Everything in love,"  (1 Corinthians 16:14), and as a scientist and  environmentalist,  “The Greatest threat or our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Sit back and enjoy this conversation with Mrs. Lewis. It was recorded before a live, socially distanced, small classroom. 

Anastasija graduated from Tallmadge High School in 2019. Since then her life has been full of adventure chasing after her dream of landing a career in the entertainment industry.  Anastasija is currently living in Florida and attending Full Sail University. She is in the film program working towards her bachelors of film science. Her hobbies include reading, writing, skateboarding, listening to music, watching shows and movies. Her favorite food is anything, but if forced to choose she would choose Serbian food, considering she was born in Serbia, and goes back to visit whenever possible.  When she reflects back on her time as a student at THS what she loved most were the people she met, the memories she made, how much she grew and learned as well as the amazing teachers that she is proud to have had. You can follow her on Instagram  and her YouTube channel. 

This week's episode features John Gergely, a middle school ELA teacher, high school track coach, and proud husband and father. John has been teaching for 24 years, and coaching track for 23 of those years, almost all for Tallmadge. Shortly before entering the teaching profession he married his wife, Lisa, and this month they celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. He is the proud father of Seth (age 21) and Aaron (age 17). When not teaching you can find him in his garden nursing his peppers and tomatoes, or on his computer looking for information on his past family history. You might even find his favorite food, his grandma’s cabbage rolls, on the plate next to him as he researchers his family tree. Mr. Gergely became a teacher because of the strong tradition of teachers in his family. As a teacher he is most proud of “being able to make a difference and making students feel good about coming to school.” Mr. Gergely is a proud alumnus of Tallmadge High School and loves teaching for his alma mater. Most certainly after listening to this episode the first words to come out of your mouth will be “Isn’t that amazing? Oh yeah!” You can follow Mr. Gergely on Twitter @gergelytms.

Entering into year 10 is the Wizard of Roz, AKA Mr. Roz, AKA Mr. Rozborski...English teacher and Master of Technology. Father, Husband, and Teacher are three titles he wears proudly. Mr. Roz lives by the following two quotes: "Work smarter, not harder" and "don't sweat the small stuff." If there is one lesson this pandemic has taught him it is to "take some perspective of what my life is like and how I can be the  best version of myself." When not raising his two incredible kids, Claire and Benjamin, or taking his wife Allie out on a date, you will most likely find the Wizard of Roz eating some bacon, reading his favorite book-Beartown, by Frederick Bachmand, or rewathing The Office. Mr. Roz is such an influenctial teacher passing on his love of etimology and literature to all of his students, and impacting them for life.

When asked what he is most proud of as a teacher Mr. Roz said "I’m proud to be a part of a positive community like THS and so incredibly grateful when students reach out after being in my class and tell me about their favorite memory, how they still use this idea or that resource, or that I am one of their favorite teachers. When I can leave a positive indelible impression on a student, I know I have done my best."

What a great interview to begin season 2 with. 

You can find Mr. Rozborski on Twitter @MrRozEnglish. Give him a follow and check out all the amazing things he is doing in the classroom.

This episode is the first in the Between2BlueDevils Alumni Edition. Throughout the summer I will be interviewing teachers and alumni who are changing the world!! Our first episode features Bryon Cook, who graduated from THS in 2013.  After high school he attended Baldwin Wallace, where he played football, and majored in Chemisty, and minored in Math. Following an extremely successful college career Bryon decided to pursue his dream of playing professional football. He worked extremely hard and ended up playing arena football for the Cedar Rapids River Kings and the Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks. Following his brief football career Bryon entered the coaching world where he currently coaches the wide receivers for the  Barberton Magics, under Coach Tony Gotto. He also coaches middle school basketball, and currently works as a trainer at the Power House Gym in Streetsboro, Ohio. In his spare time  Bryon is the co-host of his own pod cast called Cardelli N' Cook, a podcast all about professional wrestling. His story is a great one. But his story of life after high school isn't the only reason we chatted. Bryon is a passionate and motivated black man. Bryon shares with us what it is like growing up as a black man in America. We talk about some tough issues in this episode. And this is just the beginning. As a white male I have so much to learn and I am thankful Bryon answered questions honestly and passionatley. I hope this episode sparks thougths and conversations. I know my interview with Bryon has resonated with me since the day we met. It is time to listen. It is time to think. It is time to change. 

This man is a legend. He has taught in the district longer than almost every teacher. His journey as an educator has taken him from military bases, to college campuses, and into the high school classroom. He is a proud husband and father, a published author, and an incredible story teller. This episode is the longest interview to date, and yet it flies by. Spend some time and get to know this mathmatcis genius a little bit more.