SLOHS teacher Serena Enzerink is the newest of the four English 9 teachers. Photo illustration courtesy of Health and Sports Co-Editor Vyolet Burrus.

  Over the summer, San Luis Obispo High School hired many teachers due to the resignations during the pandemic. One of the new hires, Serena Enzerink has joined the English department at SLOHS, and is teaching College Prep English to ninth graders; she also taught English 9 Honors last trimester. In addition to teaching English, Enzerink supervises the Movie club as well as the Speech and Debate club here at SLOHS.

  Enzerink has made quite an impression on her students and the campus during her short time here at SLOHS, thus Expressions set out to interview her in order to get to know her better. 

Expressions: Why did you decide to teach at SLOHS?

SLOHS English teacher Serena Enzerink: I did my undergrad at Cal Poly, so I knew I really liked living here. I really loved the community and I loved getting to go to the beach. When I came here for my teaching demo, [I was able to see] how encouraging and supportive [the environment was]. The students in the class that I got to interact with, made me think that this was just a really fun place to teach.

Expressions: You originally planned on majoring in business, what made you decide to become a teacher?

Enzerink: I was studying business [during] my first year, and realized that I really did not like the business culture, so I switched majors thinking that I might go into event planning. It wasn’t until my fourth year that I realized all the classes I was taking for my English minor [was] where I just felt really alive, and I figured if I could spend the rest of my life getting to talk about English, and encouraging students to enjoy that subject as well, that would be great. 

Expressions: What is your favorite part about SLOHS?

Enzerink: Definitely the students I get to interact with. I love the students who come in just to say hi, even though I’m not their teacher anymore. Just seeing so much growth, and how much students have learned and grown as people is really cool and exciting.

Expressions: What would you change, improve, or add to SLOHS?

Enzerink: One of the things that the English department has been talking about, and that I’m really excited about is shifting our curriculum to be more current and related to topics and identities that matter to students. Not to say that it’s not happening right now, but that I’m excited to see that shift happening and continue that moving forward.

Expressions: What is your favorite thing about teaching in general?

Enzerink: I would have to say the students are what really make it; [they’re what] make me want to come every day. In terms of the subject I teach, I love getting to think about how we’re going to structure our [discussions] so that a book like To Kill a Mockingbird can be relevant and feel necessary; I think that’s super cool.

Expressions: What is your goal as a teacher this year?

Enzerink: As we progress with each trimester, I’m really interested in figuring out how to improve my teaching. Since I am so new, it’s been really helpful to get a lot of feedback from students about what they think I’m doing well, and what they think I could improve.

Expressions: What advice would you give to students?

Enzerink: Make the most of the time that you have, I’m very aware that not every student of mine loves English, and that’s fine, not everyone needs to love it. There’s a lot for you to gain from [high school] and you’ll never get these years back. 

  SLOHS is very excited to welcome Enzerink, and she’ll no doubt be a great addition to the staff.