Words come to life in Susan Ortiz’s 9th grade Honors English class at Piper High School, and it’s fair to say today’s lesson plan is epic.
"We are working on Homer's 'The Odyssey', and we are covering all of the parts of an epic. So, epic theme, epic setting, epic plot, epic hero, so they are working on putting those together," said Ms. Ortiz.
It's appropriate that they are reading Homer, because their teacher keeps hitting it out of the park and she has the hardware to prove it.
"I'm the Future Educators of America advisor, we have a really big club here at Piper. This year at the county convention we walked away with two trophies, and I believe that five seniors came away with scholarships," said Ms. Ortiz.
Ms. Ortiz makes learning fun and she really cares about her kids, and the feeling is mutual.
"What I like about Ms. Ortiz's class is that she makes it really fun. She's always making jokes with us, and she actually laughs with us. She really cares about us and what we are learning, and wants us to succeed," said Alysha Mahoney, a freshman in Ms. Ortiz's english class.
"Ms. Ortiz is an icon at Piper High School, she engages them with rigorous activities, but, sometimes the kids have so much fun that they don't even realize that they're learning. It is an honor to have Ms. Ortiz on my staff," said Marie Hautigan, Acting Principal of Piper High School.
So give it up for Susan Ortiz, who puts pen to paper at Piper. She’s this week’s super teacher and the recipient of two passes to Universal Orlando Resort.
