Emily Savalox is the newest Spanish teacher at Grand Haven High School. While she has been teaching Spanish at Lakeshore for the last four years, this is her first year teaching at the High School at the same time. She also coaches the seventh grade girls volleyball team at Lakeshore.
Who is your favorite musical artist?
Taylor Swift. I know it’s basic, but she’s just the best.
What is your pet peeve?
Loud chewing and people not using their turn signal.
What are you doing when you are out of school?
I coach volleyball, I’ve got a nine month old baby at home, I’m in a book club. My husband and I like to go to county parks on the weekends and just walk or go to the beach.
How long have you been teaching/working in schools?
Eighth year teaching. My first four years of teaching, I was at Forest Hills Public Schools in Grand Rapids. I’ve been at Lakeshore since.
Where did you go to high school and college?
I went to Plymouth High School in the metro Detroit area. I got my bachelor’s degree from GVSU and I got my master’s degree from Western Governors University.
What was easy in moving to the high school?
The easiest part has definitely been the students so far. My first hour kids are awesome. They participate, they do what they need to do, they’re a great group of kids.
What was difficult?
Being in two different spaces. I’m someone who usually likes to have my lamps and my LEDs in my classroom. So when they put me in here the second week of school with just a blank, white classroom, it kind of looked like an asylum.
Have you always wanted to be a teacher/work in education?
In college, I knew I wanted to study Spanish, but I wasn’t sure about teaching. At one point I (took) a college of education course, just to see. And I really loved it. I had a great Spanish teacher in high school, so she inspired me to want to continue.
How do you make your classroom unique?
I really like to have a lot of fun. I’m not a big fan of “Okay, I’m going to stand up and lecture, and we’re going to take a lot of notes.” I really like to make it more conversational, play games. So I just kind of like to keep things casual, keep things fun, but usually that leads to building better relationships and then an overall better class result.
If you could change one thing about your curriculum, what would it be and why?
I might like some slightly updated materials. We did get a new online set, so I’ve got to kind of look into that but some of our things, like our vocab, (is on) a floppy disk. I remember using the same curriculum when I was in high school 12 years ago.
What does your typical planning hour look like?
My planning hour is second. So usually I head over to Lakeshore. Some days I stop at Starbucks because I’m like “Oh, I should get a little treat.” But usually it’s either kind of wrapping stuff up here and then getting stuff situated at the middle of school. But it’s making copies, creating stuff, doing my plans, kind of a little bit everything.
What is your proudest achievement?
It’s gotta be my baby, which sounds really silly, but she was born six weeks early, so she was really, really tiny and she had to stay in the NICU for about a month, but she did an awesome job. And then when she was finally able to come home, after she was there for a month she just was awesome.
What do you enjoy the most about working at GHHS so far?
My favorite part is running into old students in the hallways and kids I’ve taught the last couple years. That and the air conditioning.
Three things to a desert island?
Kindle, coffee maker and a pillow need to be comfy to sleep.
What’s a bucket list item for you?
To travel to South America.
