Many of us don’t know what we want to do when we graduate high school. For some, we may even believe that our high school did not help us discover what we were destined to do. 

That was the case for Katie Winch, Class of 2018, but the place where her experience was “unspectacular and generic” was the place where she ended up finding her passion. This semester, Winch will be doing her student teaching right here at Warren Hills.

Winch describes her high school experience as “forgettable,” aside from her involvement in Journalism and bowling. 

“I made so many formative memories being an editor for Journalism as well as captain of the bowling team,” she said.

 One particular memory of Journalism was of a predominantly favorable review of a school play.

“I openly wrote about my opinion of the show, much of it being positive and congratulatory,” she said, “but I also commented about it being way too long.” 

Naturally, this did not go over well with the Drama Club, but Winch got the last laugh. 

“I did win an award at the Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) convention for that article,” she said. “So sometimes you have to deal with a little roasting to get the reward.”

As for her career in bowling, it sparked a passion and Winch remains very involved. 

“I am currently a private bowling coach and my experiences as captain of the Bowling Team solidified my love for the sport,” she said. “I spent a significant amount of my high school experience learning how to be a good athlete and a better leader.” 

Aside from Journalism, Winch said she also enjoyed history class.

“I had Jesse O’Neill as a history teacher, now I am spending half of my time as a student teaching in his classroom.”

For Winch, the road to student teaching was not an easy one. 

“I was one of those people who had no idea what they wanted to do once they graduated,” she said. “It took a good amount of time for me to realize that I wanted to be a teacher.”

Winch said that taking a gap year after high school helped her realize that teaching was the path that she wanted to take.

“As part of an elite national bowling training event,

all the athletes were given personality tests that helped us understand how we behave,” she explained. “My result was the ‘teacher’ character type. I ardently hated this and called it ridiculous and incorrect for daring to suggest that I had the same characteristics of a teacher. Now, as a student teacher, the joke’s on me.” 

“Once I entered college, it was not really a continuation of my educational career I had for the first 18 years of life,” she said. “It was a start over, demolish and rebuild.”

Winch now enjoys being back at Warren Hills and working with Jesse O’Neill and Ingrid Garafalo and their  History classes.

“Once I stepped into the classroom, I knew teaching is what I was meant to do,” she said. “Teachers certainly don’t do it for the money, they do it for the love of what they do and to hopefully make a difference.”