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Love of math and teaching adds up for Rokicki
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Poland native Alexandra Rokicki, 23, graduated from Poland Seminary High School in 2005. She is Poland Middle School's new seventh and eighth-grade mathematics teacher.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Poland resident Alexandra Rokicki showed her class how to solve an algebraic problem from their textbook during the first week of class. She has wanted to teach since she was a child.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
After graduating high school, some students don’t want to step another foot in a classroom. Others can’t stand the thought of being away.
Poland resident Alexandra Rokicki has always dreamed of teaching. The thought of educating others was embedded in her thoughts even as a child.
“I used to play in my basement and I would pretend like I was a teacher all the time,” she said.
Rokicki is one of the four new faculty members at Poland Middle School. She teaches seventh and eighth-grade mathematics. This is her first full-time position as a teacher, but she is up for the challenge.
“I can’t see myself being anything but a teacher and I really like this age group,” she said.
Math isn’t every student’s best subject and Rokicki is aware of this. She said she wants to show students that she loves math and it can be fun. She encourages students to work hard and enjoy the learning process.
“It doesn’t have to be a miserable subject,” she said.
Graduating from Poland Seminary High School in 2005, Rokicki attended YSU to obtain a bachelor’s degree in education and integrated mathematics. She was a student teacher at Austintown Middle School for 15 weeks, but wanted to make her academic home in her hometown.
“I grew up in Poland so it was always my dream and goal to get back into the district,” Rokicki said.
Aside from teaching math classes at PMS, the 23-year-old also coaches basketball. Since she graduated high school, Rokicki has coached freshman, seventh-grade and now eighth-grade girls basketball for Poland.
With such a busy schedule, Rokicki said she uses her time management and organizational skills to keep herself on top of things. She said she had great student teaching training and it has helped her with her current academic and extracurricular duties.
Rokicki is not married, but is dating the same person from her freshman year of high school. John Haug, who also graduated in 2005 from Poland, is her high school sweetheart. He teaches freshman history at Champion High School.
“It’s nice that we are both teachers because we get time off at the same time,” Rokicki said.
A hectic daily schedule doesn’t seem to stop Rokicki from striving toward her dreams. She is currently working on a master’s degree in special education instruction via Arkansas State University’s online classes.
She is excited about her new position at PMS and plans to stay in the area for years to come.
“I love my community and I would like to raise a family here,” Rokicki said. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”