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| From Mr. Paul Baerwalde (Science Teacher): Email: baerwap@dearbornschools.org
Hello Smith Family,
I am a proud, long-time member of the O.L. Smith staff with 20+ years of teaching experience in this wonderful building. My favorite book is Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. My favorite sports are tennis and basketball. I used to coach boys basketball at Smith and boys and girls tennis at Fordson and Edsel Ford years ago. My biggest accomplishment is working along with my wife Amy raising a healthy, happy family. I have seven children ranging in ages from 26, the oldest to 13, the youngest. My favorite movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My favorite food in cheese enchiladas from Mexican Fiesta. Here’s a picture of my lovely wife, my terrific seven kids, my awesome son in law on the far right and me.
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| From Mrs. Dara Edgerton (Special Education Co-Teacher): Email: edgertd@dearbornschools.orgHello Smith Vikings! I am looking forward to another great year at Smith. My name is Mrs. Edgerton and I graduated from Kent State University with a BA in Special Education in 1994 and received my Master of Art in Education degree from the University of Findlay in Educational Leadership in 2000. I started my career teaching deaf students in Ohio for 8 years, and began teaching in Dearborn in 2002 when I moved to Michigan. When I’m not teaching, I work as an American Sign Language interpreter. Since I’ve worked in Dearborn I’ve taught at Haigh, Whitmore Bolles, Nowlin and Smith. I live in Canton with my husband, son and daughter. I’m an Ohio State fan and love dogs!
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From Ms. Abeer Savage (Science Teacher): Email: savagea@dearbornschools.org Hello Everyone, My name is Mrs. Savage and I am delighted to be part of the amazing Smith team. This is my fourth year at O.L. Smith teaching Science. A little bio about myself is that I lived 17 years of my early childhood life in West Africa where I attended a private school completing my primary and secondary school years there. For that reason I am fluent in speaking and writing four different languages (English, Arabic, French and one of the many African languages;Krio). As for my education, I received my first Science Associate degree in 1997 from HFCC then transferred to Wayne State University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Radiation Therapy. A year before graduating I moved to Texas with my husband and took a little break from school. Upon my return to Michigan, I decided to complete my Bachelor degree and changed careers from Radiation Therapy to teaching. I graduated from the University of Michigan Dearborn in 2008 earning a Bachelor of Science Degree with a double major in Mathematics and Science. I earned my Masters degree from the University of Michigan Dearborn, in the Mathematics Leadership and Curriculum program. I am an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction. Some of my favorite books that I read are “Beach Road” & “Alex Cross” by James Patterson, and “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt. An interesting book that I read was, “A Gentleman in Moscow”. I enjoy kayaking, walking, gardening and spending time with my family, nieces nephews and my wonderful husband, who is a graduate of Dearborn Public Schools and a University of Michigan Alumni. Lastly, I am a coffee connoisseur. The pictures below are of my family; my sister’s husband, brother and sister, also my sister and her wonderful kids celebrating her birthday, and my favorite spot up north-Lake Huron!     |
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| From Mrs. Jeanette Schafer (Special Education Co-Teacher):Email: schafej@dearbornschools.org
Hello! I cannot wait to work with you at Smith this year! I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BA in Public Relations and General Business. I went on to pursue a teaching certificate from Madonna University, which is also where I earned a Masters Degree in Learning Disabilities. I recently completed the required courses to earn an ESL endorsement from Wayne State University. I live in the country and own chickens! We raise them for their farm fresh eggs! I am married to a wonderful man and we enjoy spending our summers on our boat and heading up north to snowmobile in the winter. |
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| From: Mrs. Whittney Bender (Language Arts Teacher)
Email: benderw@dearbornschools.org The 2020-2021 school year brings me into my 9th year as a teacher. I spent my first 8 years of teaching at the high school level before coming to Smith in December of 2019. So far, I’ve loved being a Viking and look forward to more opportunities to work with this community. I spend the majority of my free time hanging out with my husband. We enjoy video games, dining out, and travel. I also spend a great deal of time with my family. I am the youngest of 4 kids and have 6 nieces and nephews (plus two dog nephews and a dog niece)! My husband’s family lives in Ohio but we love to drive down and visit with them as often as we can. We all love to get together and laugh and share stories. Two of my favorite hobbies are gardening and crafting. I’ve made many of the Wood signs and other decor in my home. In my garden I have a veggie patch, herb garden, and a cutting garden (so I can make my own bouquets)! |
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From Ms. Monica Jedrzejowski (Foreign Language Teacher): Email: jedrzem@dearbornschools.org Witamy! Bienvenidos! Wilkommen! Bienvenue! My name is Mrs. Jedrzejowski, and I teach foreign language at O.L. Smith Middle School. I’ve taught both at the elementary and middle school level, and I enjoy teaching with a passion! To tell you a little about myself, I am married and have three boys at home. My oldest is named Alexander (Olek in Polish). Adrian is my middle son, and my youngest is Antoni. All my boys are a bundle of joy. I grew up speaking Polish and following all types of Polish traditions. I also belonged to various Polish folklore dancing groups for over 18 years. I am quite the energetic person in and out of the classroom and love to keep students motivated and alert during the day. I graduated from Oakland University where I received certification for both Spanish and Language Arts. In addition, I have a Masters Degree from Marygrove. In my life, I make it a priority to create lessons in the classroom to keep students interested and help them to explore language further in their lives. I look forward to meeting your child this year. Please feel free to email me at any time you have any questions or concerns!
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From Mr. Radcliffe (Social Studies Teacher): Email: radclij@dearbornschools.org
Hi Everyone – I’m Mr. Radcliffe. This is my 4th year at O.L. Smith and with Dearborn Public Schools. I chose to go into teaching later in life after having spent 20 years in sales and management positions. I believe that my experience has made me a better teacher because I can bring real life experiences to my students. I have taught grades 6th – 12th and have also taught ESL to adults, but my favorite grades to teach are middle school! I attended Oakland University and earned My Bachelor’s, Master’s and Education Specialist degrees from there. I enjoy learning about new things and different cultures. In my spare time, I like hanging out with my dog, reading, listening to music and cooking.
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| From Ms. Erin Sisty (PE/Health Teacher) Email: sistye@dearbornschools.orgHello Smith family, I am going on 4 years of teaching at Smith. I have been teaching for 17 years at all levels. I graduated from GVSU with my undergrad and double major in K-12 physical education & elementary education. I have taught reading, writing, and social studies for 3rd, 4th, 5th grade, and 8th grade. My graduate degree is in school counseling.
My family and I are very close. I grew up north of Lansing in the middle of nowhere. I am adopted and have an older brother that is also adopted. My sister, who is 8 yrs younger than me and my parents biological daughter, was a wonderful surprise. I definitely mothered her! My 12 yr old son, Aidan, is my twin. Not only do we look like each other, but we both are very fit and enjoy being physically active. We live in Livonia with my partner, Josh and our dog Ned! Aidan plays football for Livonia Blue Jays (club/city team). He is one of the quickest and hardest hitting players on the team. He knocked a kid out last fall during the 1st game of the season! There are many activities and hobbies I enjoy! Playing board games and reading are 2 of my favorites. Our favorite board game is Life and I really enjoy reading memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, WWII historical fiction, and the author Jodi Piccoult. I am also a member of an all women’s gym in Livonia. Their fitness classes are intense, but I love pushing myself! Cooking is another favorite for me. One of my favorite recipes, spicy chicken pasta, is a Thai dish. In October 2019 I met my biological dad and other biological family members for the first time. We have seen each other several times now. Interesting enough they are a family of teachers. Even more shocking is my late bio grandma, Doris, was a PE teacher for over 30 yrs, and my bio dad, Roger, loves teaching reading! Getting to know my bio family has aided in showing me I am doing what I was meant to do, teach.
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From Mr. Andrew Petrusha (7th & 8th Grade Math Teacher): Email: petrusa@dearbornschools.org My name is Mr. Petrusha and I teach 7th and 8th grade math here at O.L. Smith Middle School. I have been a teacher here since March 2017. I went to both Oakland Community College and Oakland University where I earned a bachelor’s degree for teaching K-8 Math and Science. I am currently enrolled and taking classes at Wayne State University working on an ESL teaching certification as well as a Masters degree. At home, I have a wife (Jessica) who I met way back in 2004 (our freshman year of high school) and we have been married since 2016. We have a little boy (Drew) who is almost 2 years old and a little girl due in June. We are so happy of our little family and can’t wait to see what the future holds. My hobbies include two main things. First and foremost is that I love sports. Any and all sports. I will watch or play anything but my favorites are hockey, football, basketball, and baseball. I grew up playing them and now I coach them. I coach football, both boys and girls basketball, and track here at Smith. I also am a huge comic book fan. I collect and read comics even as an adult. My favorite is Batman and would love to keep expanding my collection. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can and feel free to stop by Room 10 anytime.     |
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| From Ms. Kobeissi (Speech Teacher):Ms. Kobeissi’s Email: kobeisa@dearbornschools.org
Hi Everyone! I’m Ms. Alana Kobeissi, Speech-Language Pathologist at OL Smith. I received my Masters of Arts with a concentration in Speech-Language Pathology from Wayne State University. I began working at OL Smith as an SLP in 2019. I decided to become an SLP after I received speech therapy as a middle schooler because I could not say my /r/ sound. Learning how to say it made me more confident in speaking to other people and made me realize how important communication is. I work at OL Smith part-time and also share my time as an SLP at another elementary school in the district (2 buildings). I have experience with students with: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cognitive Impairments, as well as those with Physical and Other Health Impairments. Some of my favorite areas are literacy, speech sound errors, social language, stuttering, and working with my wonderful ASD students who always keep me on my toes. In my free time, I like to spend a lot of time outside (preferably on a beach!), spend time with my three sisters, reading books and middle-eastern poetry, traveling overseas, and also giving a lot of attention to my playful cat Pipsy. I am also a big fan of 50’s movies, particularly those starring Audrey Hepburn. Thank you!
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| From Ms. Sanae Hassan-Abbas (Spec. Ed Para-Pro): abbass@dearbornschools.orgHello, my name is Sanae Hassan-Abbas. I am happily married and a proud mother of seven amazing children. In my free time I enjoy reading all kind of genres and spending time in nature. My favorite seasons are autumn and spring. I recently started college and I am slowly but surely on the way to further my education. I am planning to study something in the field of social work. I love volunteering and being involved in community service work. I am also actively involved in the Dearborn PTA council. I had a great experience as a substitute para-pro last year and I am very happy to continue working full-time at O. L. Smith this year. I am looking forward to the start of a wonderful new school year!
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