Page 211 - PINE CREST 2000

-Spotlight o v \ M s W o iss

I’m not exactly sure how I should approach this article. The first thing that comes to mind is
the conventional method. You know, I could write about the classes Ms Weiss teaches or how much

I learned from her in my year of DevPsych. Somehow, though, I just don’t seem to think that the
“conventional” route would do Ms Weiss justice. Those of you who’ve been in one of her classes no
doubt understand this. For those of you who haven’t been so privileged, please allow me to explain.

My first exposure to Ms Weiss (or Weissy as some affectionately call her) came four years ago in
Ethics. Interestingly, Ms Weiss was not actually my Ethics teacher—Mrs. Rosenbaum was—hut one
day for whatever reason Ms Weiss was our substitute. I vividly remember her lively voice and em­
phatic movements as she

explained Plato (at one
point she was literally jump­
ing up and down). Strange,

right? Not really. It’s just
the energy and enthusiasm
Ms Weiss brings to teaching.
Of course, I didn’t quite

understand this at the time,
in fact I was shocked and a
little scared, but two years

later, while taking her
DevPsych class, my percep­
tion of Ms Weiss became a
lot more clear.

The same energetic style I
had found somewhat fright­
ening in Ethics had me

captivated. I remember sitting in her classroom and actually being upset when the bell rang (it’s true).
She just has this way of absolutely bringing a subject to life, be it DevPsych, Ethics, or AP Art History.
However, to just describe Ms Weiss as a teacher would be reductive and highly inaccurate. Her
contributions to the Pine Crest Community extend far beyond the class room, be it by sponsoring

Youth Against Aids, one of the more active clubs on campus or by providing a forum for the classical
talents of students in the form of Mostly Classical and Mostly Dessert.
People always remember the one teacher they had in high school that made a difference, that

changed the way they thought. I was fortunate enough to have a handful of such teachers in my time
here, and Ms Weiss is certainly among them.