Most days during lunch, Beth Portincasa and Jen Niner eat together in a cramped but cozy office space in room 109. Portincasa has just arrived from Pathways and Niner will have to be on her way to Skyline before lunch is over. Portincasa began teaching at two schools in 2019. She instructs art classes at Community in the afternoon, but in the morning, she spends her time teaching art at Pathways, another alternative high school in Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS).
When she has to leave a class early, late or even find a sub when scheduling conflicts arise, her typical day feels overbooked and she often feels like she’s out of breath. The schedule differences between the two schools are a big concern for Portincasa, leading to a mess of longer days and rushing between schools during lunch.
For Portincasa, there are advantages to being at two smaller schools. She’s able to be with more kids andshe gets to know everybody pretty well. From her perspective, she gets to have a whole other school where she gets to know families and siblings, and she loves that.
It was challenging for her to start teaching at two schools, but Portincasa remembers her first summer at Community. Fellow staff members had offered to help her move a large load of boxes from around the school. The connections she’s made with students, families and staff have helped her feel welcomed.
“It is really nice being at both schools that have supportive staff,” Portincasa said. “They catch you up, they do whatever they can to make you feel like you’re a full-time staff member.”
Niner has been in many positions around AAPS, first as a TA and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at Community, and then as a teacher for a deaf-ed program at Pioneer (which was later closed and moved elsewhere).
Then, Niner worked at Community and Pathways teaching ASL, until last year when she switched from Pathways to Skyline. It took a while for her to adjust to a comprehensive high school schedule, but she eventually got into a comfortable rhythm at Skyline.
Niner appreciates the long block classes at Community. She has time to teach a lesson and give follow up activities for each class period. For her, the combination of trimesters and repetitive class schedules at Skyline make the time fly.
She noticed it was hard for the Skyline ASL students to adjust to a new teacher. But, it was even harder to make connections with the Skyline staff when she was only there for two class periods.
“There were a couple of people there that were really kind and helpful,” Niner said. “I was kind of lost there for the first two months because [Skyline’s] just so big.”
She has always felt welcome at Community, though, feeling thankful to work with staff like Courtney Kiley, Janelle Johnson and Kim Tehranipour.
ASL is her first language because both of her parents are deaf. Niner tries to remind herself that the more she teaches, the better it is for the deaf community. She wants to give as many students the opportunity to learn ASL as possible. Recently, she’s even taken on another teaching role with Michigan Virtual in the evening.
“It’s nice that I get to educate these students who want to learn ASL,” Niner said. “It speaks to my heart.”
Janelle Johnson, another teacher who splits, describes herself as a “townie.” When she was younger, she attended all AAPS schools: Pattengill Elementary School, Tappan Middle School and Pioneer High School. Working at an advertising agency after graduating from Hampton University with an advertising degree, she decided it didn’t fit her.
“It didn’t feed my soul,” Johnson said.
She returned to school at Wayne State University to earn her Master of Arts in Teaching while working as a substitute teacher at Pioneer. She taught eighth grade in Charlotte, North Carolina, before eventually coming back to Ann Arbor and teaching English at Pioneer.
Johnson then moved to teach English and Interpersonal Communication and Speech at Community and began working in the Community Resource (CR) department, until she accepted a position teaching the Rising Scholars Program and educational leadership classes at Pioneer. That began her journey of teaching at two schools.
“I’m not any busier than everybody else,” Johnson said. “It just looks different.”
With CHS block scheduling and Pioneer’s traditional schedule, it can be difficult to keep her day-to-day in order. Johnson is at Community in the mornings, working in the CR office and staying to lead Forum lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays before hurrying to Pioneer.
Johnson started working at Community 17 years ago, and the block schedule was a change from the traditional education style she was used to. Alternative education was a switch, but she felt accepted by the staff here. Some of the people who were here when she started, like Kevin Davis, Danelle Mosher and Marci Tuzinsky, helped her feel like a part of Community right away.
