 |
| Beth Cirzan |
|
High School:
Marana High School
|
|
Subject(s):
Language Arts | | |
English teacher Beth Cirzan believes that the connection with English and Literature is history. Beth believes connecting students to the world is best achieved when teachers work in a co-curricular mode. Beth helped create, institute, and teach a two period, block course in American Literature and United States History. She feels students attain a better
understanding and higher level of thinking once they understand that history is a record of events and that literature illuminates those events and trends. The material in both classes becomes more relevant as students begin to see literature as people’s reaction to what was happening in history.
Beth loved school. Her preparation for teaching started about the time she entered Kindergarten. She received her Teaching Certificate in 1979 with a B.A. in English at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
She quickly learned that although curriculum is vital, relationships built with students is just as important. With respect and kindness, students are more likely to open their minds to the subject matter offered. Beth also learned that it is just as important to listen to her students, as it is to discuss and deliver information. With that, after 20 years of teaching, Beth went back to school at the University of Arizona and received her
Masters in Educational Psychology in 2002. Currently, she is the Marana High School English Department Chair and Marana Unified School District Mentor Teacher.
“The easiest and quickest way to build strong relationships with students is to build and share memories with them.” Beth participates in co-curricular or extracurricular activities, which include Assistant Girls’
Basketball Coach, Academic Decathlon Speech Coach, and is currently a National Honor Society Sponsor. Whether it is on the soccer field, or the basketball court, she encourages athletes to win with grace...and to
lose with grace. Some of the most valuable, life lessons happen outside of the classroom.
