By Alan Liang
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006, The OG, news

A FAMILIAR FACE will soon be back in a Uni classroom to teach calculus. Elizabeth Jockusch, who retired last June after teaching 26 years at Uni, will take over the third-period Calculus I and fourth-period Accelerated Calculus I classes during second semester.

She will replace Craig Russell and Rachel Tyson, respectively. Russell, head of the math department, will take over Gene Bild's fourth-period Algebra II/Trigonometry class.

Why the changes?

At the end of the 2005-06 school year, besides Jockusch retiring, fellow math teacher Sue Plisch resigned. With their absence Uni did not have enough staff members to cover all of its scheduled math classes. Despite an extensive search during the summer, the department entered the new school year shorthanded. Russell volunteered to teach an overload of classes, including Calculus I. Tyson agreed to help by teaching Accelerated Calculus I.

As the fall semester progressed, Tyson felt overcommitted by teaching three classes along with taking care of her two young children (she was originally scheduled to teach only two sections of Advanced Topics). At the same time, after his doctor advised him to “slow down,” Bild requested to give up his fourth-period Algebra II/Trig section.

So when Russell looked at the spring schedule, he realized he would have to find replacements for Tyson and Bild in their respective time slots.

“I had an option of looking for two part-time teachers [one for Tyson's Accelerated Calculus I and one for Bild's Algebra II/Trig], or of rearranging my schedule so that I only had to look for one part-time teacher to cover two classes [Tyson's and Russell's calculus classes] at different times,” he said. “When I learned that the state ban on rehiring retirees had been partially lifted, I immediately thought of Mrs. Jockusch as a replacement teacher.”

Russell concluded that it would be best for him to take over Bild's Algebra II/Trig section and for Jockusch to teach both Calculus I classes. However, he didn't make the decision easily.

“Calculus has always been my favorite class to teach,” he said, “but I thought Mrs. Jockusch was a better fit for calculus.”

These arrangements will only be in effect during the spring of 2007.

“We aren't even close to building the schedule [for] next year,” said Russell.

As for Jockusch, she said she looks forward to returning to Uni.

“Working full time can be too much,” she said, “but not working at all can be boring.”

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