Mrs. Strakonsky has been teaching Social Studies at Frederick High School for 40 years. When asked about her time here, instead of speaking about herself, Mrs. Strakonsky described the value of being able to teach in her community and make connections with her students. Mrs. Strakonsky didn’t focus on any awards she had won either, saying, “They’re awards. It’s about the relationships with my students.”
I started my interview with Mrs. Strakonsky with the hardest question: “What has been your favorite part of your time teaching?” That question is a difficult one, considering I was asking her to choose just one event over her 40 year career. I never got one single answer. Instead, throughout our conversation, Mrs. Strakonsky made it clear that she is passionate about all aspects of teaching, and understands the value and importance of the job she has. Mrs. Strakonsky began her description of her career with her 38 years working with the Student Government Association (SGA). In her time she has helped develop many student leaders and made the SGA what it is today, “The pep rallies that you know, that was a process I developed. It just took time and we got ourselves there.” She also spoke about teaching the AP Human Geography Class. Calling it a challenge after teaching psychology for so long.
I knew that while I had the opportunity to speak with someone so knowledgeable in the development of Frederick High School, I should ask what changes the school could benefit from. Mrs. Strakonsky stressed that her opinion may be controversial, “I think we need to get back to having rigorous expectations… I understand different points of view, but I do believe we’ve kind of dropped our academic standards in terms of our expectations of our students. And I don’t think that’s a very popular opinion.” She ended this statement by saying the school should encourage students to “Give us your best the first time” referring to the summative reassessment policy. Mrs. Strakonsky also thinks Frederick High school has made significant improvements in her time here. She mentioned that the school has done a good job of embracing technology, and leadership trusting staff.
Most teachers do not stay at one school their entire career, and I wanted to know what made Frederick High so special to Mrs. Strakonsky. She emphasized the importance of community in school, “I come from a small town and I believe in community schooling, and I’ve said that from day one because that’s what I knew and that’s how I grew up,” she later added that with both of her parents were educators, and she was taught these values. She continues, “I live in my community… a lot of people feel like “No I’ve gotta get away.” I want the opposite. I want my students to know that I know their family… I know where you go to work, I know where you go to church… I think that creates community and makes you feel more connected to people… I’ve always loved that I never ever wanted to leave, I love the population here, I love the people I work with, I love the students who I’ve watched change and evolve. I just believe in legacy I really, really do.”
By the end of our interview, Mrs. Strakonsky thought back to the start of her career. She said, “I was young of course 21. The first few weeks I wore… what I had… from college and could afford, but I thought they were professional… I realized I needed to wear dresses… Wearing jeans was a rare occasion.” This is very different from the current standards for teacher attire, as she pointed out. As Mrs. Strakonsky was teaching history, she was living it. She summarized her years teaching, saying, “I started in ‘85, finishing in 2025. Think of the evolution of history. Probably best defined by capitalism, terrorism, and technology. If I subtracted 40 years from 1985 and imagine I started in 1945… As you live through history sometimes you don’t realize what you’re living.” Mrs. Strakonsky recalled some of the major events she experienced in Frederick High School, “I watched The Space Shuttle Challenger blow up with my students. I watched the towers fall, live, with my students… I heard the OJ SImpson trial outcome over the PA.” She finished these memories with a story. She spoke about her Palestinian SGA president at the time of 9/11. As the front office was trying to handle the chaos, this student was helping in any way she could. Mrs. Strakonsky said, “ Her mother came in and wanted her to leave, she didn’t feel she was safe because she was Muslim… And I’ll never forget she said to her mother ‘I’m not leaving I’m here to help.’” Mrs. Strakonsky said that was one of the most memorable moments of her career.
Mrs. Strakonsky added that she met her husband, Coach Frank Strakonsky of the Girls Cross Country team at Frederick High School, “I’m incredibly proud to be the wife of such an outstanding coach.” She also said that her daughter went into teaching and is now working in Frederick County as well. Now, Mrs. Strakonsky keeps up with the students she has impacted in her career. Instead of using Facebook, she uses LinkedIn to see what they are doing with their lives. She says she’s proud of the student leaders she has worked with. Though this conversation was meant to be about Mrs. Strakonsky, she spoke about the accomplishments of her students and how proud she is that she has lived and taught in her community. This, in my opinion, is the mark of a great teacher.
