By Claire Ferris, ’21

 This year at CA, we have four new teachers in the Upper School: Naomi Barlaz, Freya Kridle, Jamie Roszel, and Marisa Scoville. Ms. Barlaz teaches history, Ms. Kridle teaches Spanish, Mr. Roszel teaches English, and Ms. Scoville teaches science. Although we’ve already had a trimester to get to know these teachers, I took the chance to sit down with them and interview them about their interests, hobbies, and other topics that will help us students get to know them better.

 

Why did you choose to go into teaching?

Ms. Kridle: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I lived in Argentina for a year and started at college when I came back,  and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but after four years I had a degree in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies. While I was at college, I volunteered with tutoring ESL for adults, and when I graduated, I got a job at the study abroad office at the University of Pittsburgh. I helped students find the fit for them to take a semester or summer abroad. I was teaching ESL, and after three years doing that, I found that the teaching portion of that made the stressors that were happening during the day disappear. I then decided to go back for my Master’s degree and I had an excellent Portuguese professor who, to me, exemplified what a good teacher should look like. I emulated her when teaching ESL and found joy in the process.”

Ms. Scoville: “It was fairly natural, because I come from a family of teachers. I actually have four cousins who teach. I had always loved science and French, and I took every single science class that my high school offered. I like it because science explains things that are inexplicable, and that was really intriguing to me.”

Ms. Barlaz: “Well, I liked history from a young age, and in high school and middle school, I felt like there were a lot of people who helped me with my own education, like my parents and teachers who made a lot of things make sense in the way that a good teacher can. I wanted to find a way to combine that with my love of history.”

Mr. Roszel: “I went to college not having any idea what I wanted to do. I went to Clemson basically undeclared; I was a history major, but that was only because I kind of liked history. I didn’t really know. I went from history to science, and I was already a couple years in, still didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I actually started tutoring biology and really enjoyed that, and I also felt like I sort of had a knack for it. I then went into science teaching after that, but I hate math, so I didn’t want to teach physics or calculus, but I really liked life sciences, earth science, physical sciences, and things like that. English was a natural second choice, and in the end, I’m really glad that I made that choice because English is everything.”

 

Do you have any pets? If you could have a pet, what would you get?

Ms. Kridle: “We don’t have pets. It’s funny that I say this because I have a child, but pets are a lot of responsibility. My daughter loves the deer in the backyard, and since we can’t have a deer as a pet, she also really loves dogs, so we would probably get a dog if we were to get a pet. We want to hone in on the fact that she’s all about animals right now.”

Ms. Scoville: “I have a dog, and her name is Maggie. She’s adorable.”

 

What are you currently reading for enjoyment?

Ms. Barlaz: “I’m reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, and I read Rules of Civility, and it was wonderful. This is something else he’s written, and I’m really enjoying it as well.”

Mr. Roszel: “There’s a three-part science fiction series that I’m reading. It’s really interesting because it has a Chinese author. I’m on the third book now. It’s called Death’s End by Cixin Liu, and it’s a really interesting trilogy about what would happen if aliens found us. I’m not a huge science fiction guy, but I read a short story by the person who translated this book, and I liked it, so I thought I’d give the book a shot.”

 

List several adjectives to describe yourself.

Ms. Scoville: “I would say that I’m energetic, caring, patient, and understanding.”

Ms. Kridle: “Outgoing, friendly, kind, and inclusive.”

 

What is your least favorite topic to teach, and why?

Mr. Roszel: “I would never want to teach math. I respect math, I just don’t have any personal aptitude for it. I really hate teaching grammar, as well, though it’s necessary. I don’t like it because it’s a lot like math; it’s breaking down things, and diagramming, and things like that. I would much rather be talking about literature students expressing themselves through writing.”

Ms. Barlaz: “For my entire career I’ve taught world history, so I kind of want to rush through American History and get to some topics that are a bit broader when we get to that in some of my classes. I’m not sure there’s actually anything I dislike teaching; you get into anything and it becomes interesting.”

Ms. Scoville: “I really hate teaching significant figures, because the students hate it as well. It’s a universally hated topic, and there’s just not much fun in that.”

Ms. Kridle: “I haven’t really found one I don’t like to teach. There are some that are more difficult for students to grasp, like direct object pronouns, just because we use them in English all the time, but it takes a long time for the students to really grasp them.”

 

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Ms. Kridle: “I wish I could say running, but it has to be a perfect temperature with no rain, no humidity, and not too hot for me to want to run, but I like being near water, like at a beach or a pool.”

Mr. Roszel: “Everything. That’s the motto with my daughter: outside’s better than inside. I love being outside, period. I run a lot, and I like running; that’s probably the thing that I do most outside. I like running, biking, hiking, camping, fishing, really everything outside.”

 

What food do you absolutely despise?

Ms. Scoville: “I know it’s really good for you, but I just cannot eat salmon. There’s something about it that has always made me hate it.”

Ms. Barlaz: “I can’t stand bananas; I hate them so much.”

 

If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance at winning a medal for?

Ms. Kridle: “Cookie baking.”

Ms. Scoville: “I’m pretty good at teaching tricks to my dog, so I’d say I have a pretty good chance at winning gold for dog treat teaching.”

 

Which country or continent would you most like to visit?

Mr. Roszel: “Realistically, probably Australia, because it’s the hardest to attain because it’s so far away. My wife would like for us to go to South America, because I’ve never been, and she’s been a lot. I would want to go for her to be down there, but Australia’s probably the hardest to check off the list.”

Ms. Kridle: “South America, and I want to go back to Brazil but since I’ve been there I’d probably say Columbia. I love Fernando Botero, a Latin American Artist. My students should know this – he’s the most recognizable Latin-American artist because he paints things exaggeratedly chubby. From their fingertips to the watermelon on the table, everything is really round. He and Juanes, the most famous Latin American singer both come from Columbia, so I’d like to visit Columbia.”

Ms. Barlaz: “I would love to go to Australia, because koalas are adorable.”

Ms. Scoville: “I would probably go to Australia, because I like science, and it has the most dangerous animals because of its isolation.”

 

What is your all-time favorite movie or TV show?

Ms. Scoville: “For movies, I would say the Princess Bride. My favorite TV show is probably Scrubs.”

Mr. Roszel: “That’s too hard. Looking at movies, Gravity might be the most impressive movie I’ve ever seen. When I saw it, it might be the perfect movie, in that sense. I guess I like intense movies like that. As for TV shows, I love The Office, Parks and Rec, and shows like that. Right now I’m in love with Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things.”

 

What is your favorite spot on CA campus?

Ms. Kridle: “The library. I have a desk here in the SEA, but this isn’t really my room. I like the library because it’s spacious and bright, and I can get my work done there.”

Mr. Roszel: “I love the library. I know we have an English office, but I never go there because there are no windows. Thinking of the outside thing, I don’t know why anyone would ever stay in a room with no windows. I love the library because it’s spacious, you have lots of room to spread out.”