Often, teachers act as mentors, guiding students through academic and personal challenges. Their influence shapes students’ characters and encourages them to pursue their dreams. Ultimately, teachers inspire students to become better versions of themselves and contribute positively to society.
Ms. Koistinen has been teaching Biology at Mountain Ridge for the past 4 years and has made a lasting impact on her students. She loves explaining things to her students and making activities for them to learn from and enjoy. All while they learn more and attain more knowledge.
Ms. Koistinen says that she hates seeing her students give up just because something’s boring or hard. She says she tries to get kids to understand that even if something is boring, there’s a purpose behind everything, like a bigger story.
She loves to have fun with her students, but likes to keep her expectations to make sure that everyone is on track and not getting distracted. She wants to see her students build knowledge and have fun at the same time.
There are often students who don’t reach their full potential in their classes for various reasons. Ms. Koistinen says, “So maybe one time you don’t do too well, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never do well.” She goes through a bunch of strategies trying to figure out what works for that student.
Kavya Hariharan, a freshman, says, “I like the fact that she can have fun and also teach us. She always makes sure that labs are fun for us, but we also learn something.” Jiya Goyal, a freshman, added by saying, “She is funny and understanding. She teaches well and explains the topic to students through hands-on work.”
Ms. Koistinen occupies herself with DVEA (Deer Valley Educators Association) as a board member. The DVEA is super important to Ms. Koistinen, and she wishes that she had gotten involved sooner. She mentions, “It’s helped me get a lot more involved and helped me think about not just my own classroom and my own students, but the school and the district and what sort of collective action can they all take”. She feels like the more involved she’s getting, the more of a positive impact she’s having on our community.
She is also the advisor of the Fashion Club and the American Society Club. Apart from being so packed and busy, she’s also getting her Gifted Certification. Even if she has a crazy schedule, she’s always ready to help her students and make sure they reach their full potential.
Ms. Koistinen got Open Water certified for Scuba. Although she admits that she isn’t much of an adrenaline-activity person, she doesn’t regret this achievement.
Finally, Ms. Koistinen ends by saying, “One bad grade, one bad event doesn’t have that much of an impact long-term as long as you reset and focus. I think the biggest thing is to just make your own choices. Don’t just choose something cause all your friends are doing it, do something that interests you. I would rather see people doing the things that they care about. The biggest thing is just being true to you and owning it”.
