While most people are still waking up, Mrs. Schulken is already switching her brain from the complexities of the human mind to the details of the American Revolution, proving that being an AP teacher is a 24/7 job. As the teacher for both AP Psychology and AP U.S. History at Amityville Memorial High school, she’s balancing two of the hardest classes in the building. To her students, she’s way more than a teacher; she’s a mentor that stays “ cool, calm, and collected” even when the rest of them are panicking.
Teaching two AP classes means Mrs. Schulken is constantly switching gears. She admits that APUSH is a huge challenge because there’s so much to remember including how to write DBQs, SAQs, and LEQs. She handles it by being super organized and staying after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for extra help. Current APUSH student Miracle McLaurin says “she should be recognized for her kindness and her ability to teach in a way that keeps students consistently intrigued and actively involved in lessons.” Mrs. Schulken’s goal isn’t just to get her students good scores on exams; she wants to teach us time management, which she says is the most important skill we can have for the real world.
What’s cool is that Mrs. Schulken didn’t always love history. In fact, she actually “hated” social studies when she was younger. It wasn’t until her own 11th grade history teacher pushed her to “ think outside the box” that she realized how much potential she has. Now, she tries to do the same for her students by lecturing less and letting them take the lead in class. She wants them to be critical thinkers, not just people who wait to be told the right answer.
Even though she’s very busy, Mrs. Schulken is also the person making sure her students are having fun. She spends time behind the scenes planning big events, like the upcoming trip to see Hamilton on Broadway. She handles the paperwork and the stress of the ticket lottery just so we can see history come to life.
When she isn’t grading a million essays, Mrs. Schulken has a life that might surprise her students. She grew up as a ballerina and is a huge music fan who loved going to all kinds of concerts. She also balances being a teacher with being a mom, which means she’s often grading or planning in both worlds. She stays grounded by traveling and spending time with her family whenever she can.
Mrs. Schulken wants her students to know that she’s just as stressed as her students. She pushes us because she knows we can handle it. She tells anyone feeling overwhelmed to look at the “ big picture” and not let one bad moment define them. Above all, she wants people to not take things too seriously. She believes we are all human, and just because someone is an AP teacher doesn’t mean they are better than anyone else. “ I’m not more special than anyone else in this building, I just teach,” she said. With one of her favorite catchphrases, “Everything’s fine,” she makes her students feel like they are going to make it.
