Once upon a time, a lost little freshmen needed help finding her journalism class on her first day of high school. She hears the final bell ring, and knows she’s too late. Scared out of her mind in a new, huge building, she begins to frantically look around for the classroom B203. Suddenly, on the verge of crying, a woman stops the freshman and asks her, with a smile, where she was going. The freshman tells her that she should be in Journalism, in the classroom B203. The woman moves away from her classroom door and reveals the numbers B203 plastered on the wall. She smiles and says, “Hi, I’m Mrs. Cesa and I’m your teacher for journalism.” With a sigh of relief, the freshmen (in case you have not already guess, it was me) enters her classroom.
On my first day of high school, I was lost and could not find my way. Luckily, Mrs. Cesa came to my rescue and invited me in. From my first ever encounter with Mrs. Cesa, I knew that she was a special teacher. At Lakewood High School, Mrs. Cesa teachers English 2, Introduction to Journalism, and Creative Writing. I was lucky enough to have her for two years in a row: for Journalism 1 and English 2.
Back when Journalism was a full-year class, Mrs. Cesa taught all different areas within the broad range of journalism. She incorporated different technologies and styles of teaching in this class that she knew would capture her student’s attentions. My favorite part about her, actually, in her inclusion. Being the only freshman in a predominantly senior class, she treated me not as the 14-year-old that I was, but as an equal to the 18 year olds sitting beside me.
Want to see Mrs. Cesa in her zone? Get into a conversation with her about Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”. Or perhaps, ask her about what kind of life J.D. Salinger lived, and how he created the masterpiece we know today called, “The Catcher in the Rye”. Don’t believe me? Fine, ask her about all the different views and interpretations of humans in the William Golding hit, “The Lord of the Flies”.
But her passion does not end there. She will do anything in her power to see a student succeed. No teacher wants to see a student fail, or not hit their highest potential. I have seen her time, and time again, go above and beyond her duties as a teacher to help a lost student. Mrs. Cesa’s eyes light up when she talks about her family, specifically her children. She has an adorable little happy family, and she could talk on and on about them.
Go on and give her a visit, I promise you, it’ll be fun!
