This school year New Haven High School has a new science teacher, Christina Menke. Mrs. Menke teaches three classes of Biology, Physical Science, Environmental Science, Anatomy, and Physiology.
When asked where she graduated from, Mrs. Menke stated that she graduated from Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Missouri. After high school she attended the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned her Bacholer’s of Science in Biochemistry.
Mrs. Menke is the oldest of three children. She has a younger sister and a younger brother. She is married and she has a daughter in 9th grade and a son in 5th.
Mrs. Menke has shared some of her hobbies outside of school: “My hobbies outside of school are reading, gardening, spending time with my family, and watching my kids’ activities.”
She was later questioned if she has always wanted to be a teacher and how she decided to be one.
Mrs. Menke said, “I did not always want to be a teacher. After I graduated from college I worked at Washington University in St. Louis as a researcher studying endometrial cancer. My husband and I moved to Colorado and worked at the University of Colorado Medical School studying apoptosis and cancer.”
She continued: “I was a stay-at-home mom for a while when my kids were younger. We then moved back to Missouri four years ago and I started to substitute teach. I was a substitute in the elementary, middle, and high schools, but I enjoy high school the most. It was that experience that made me believe I could be good at being in the teacher role day in and day out, so I decided to get my certification to teach.”
Being a new teacher in New Haven, she was asked how she feels about the school and its students.
Mrs. Menke responded with, “I am loving New Haven High School. I think the students here are the best. I am adjusting to this school okay. Getting into the swing of a new school year is a bit hard, but now that I am teaching constantly, I have gotten into the swing of a new school year.”
We are all very excited for you to be with us this school year, Mrs. Menke. We are very glad to have you as a Shamrock and we hope you have a good year.