On Teresa Tresslar’s first day of teaching at South in 1991, she certainly made an impact. During her first staff meeting she attempted to make a quiet early exit to pick up her kids from school, but when she opened the door to leave, alarms went off and the new teacher quickly became the center of attention. Ever since then, Tresslar has been impacting the lives of her students daily in her Childhood Development and Nutrition and Wellness classes.
When asked the most valuable thing she will take away from her time teaching, Tresslar was adamant about the immeasurable worth of the bonds she’s formed with her students over the years.
“I have lifelong friendships with many of my students. One former student is godmother to my daughter. Two other former students are now my brothers-in-law. And thanks to the beauty of Facebook, I stay connected to students who I’ve known now for almost 40 years,” Tresslar said.
In her 26 years of teaching, Tresslar has seen many changes at South. From an ever changing school day schedule to renovations on the building, Tresslar has needed to be resourceful in finding ways to engage her students and teach her B-wing classes.
“The atmosphere used to be very different, we had open lunch, crazier behavior in the halls, no phones in the rooms, no security guards, and during renovations my “classroom” was actually two closets that they joined by knocking out a wall… my kitchen lab was held in a biology lab, that meant that we “cooked” using microwaves and hotplates and had to take all the dishes down the elevator and to the cafeteria dishwasher to be cleaned,” Tresslar said.
Needless to say, Tresslar’s time here at South has been eventful, and over the years she, along with her Nutrition and Wellness classes, have learned how to use fire extinguishers to put out the most disastrous of kitchen fires. In her retirement, she’s looking forward to taking a break from the her hectic days here at South.
“I plan to have manicures that last longer than 24 hours, and I will never get up earlier than 8 a.m… by the middle of this coming June I will have six grandchildren that I can visit at anytime and not just during weekends and holidays. For me, it’s just the little things,” Tresslar said.
