You may know Ms. Hernandez as the teacher whose room up on the 3rd floor is constantly bustling with noise as students file in and out. Though she’s still relatively new to teaching here at ERHS, her first year being when we went into quarantine, she recalls that she had “some sort of understanding of what [she] wanted to do and what [her] philosophy was.” Working at Eagle Rock was always her end goal, and it happened to come fairly early in her career. Although, she was initially on the path to becoming a GPL climate scientist; Hernandez says that she “fell in love with environmental science and specifically, climate science.” In helping her sister with her homework one day, she realised she had a knack for explaining difficult concepts in a consumable way…and the rest is history!
Hernandez is currently teaching geology and honours physics but claims she can’t pick a favourite because they allow her to indulge in the sciences in various ways. However, one of her favourite lessons to teach is climate science, as it’s her strong suit and sparked her interest back in college. Many of her lessons lend themselves to hands-on activities, including labs and field trips – all of which she’s infamous for. In addition to being an invested teacher, Ms. Hernandez is also the sponsor of the class of 2024. As a student here at ERHS, she participated in class officers, and “knew the student perspective of being a part of that sort of leadership body.” She recounts some of her favourite in-person moments being the practises related to Skit and Dustbowl, where she was able to “see students outside of an academic environment & see who [they] are outside of school.” You may recognise Ms. Hernandez as being decked out in a Barney costume, running around the junior stands during Dustbowl– proudly repping the class of 2024’s colours!
Outside of the classroom, Ms. Hernandez enjoys weightlifting, reading, & painting (specifically the paint-by-numbers, not free painting). She admits to having an addiction to purchasing books, though she has numerous that lay unread on her shelves. Another big part of her life is her pets. She runs something akin to a zoo, with her three dogs, two rabbits, & a bird all waiting for her at home after school. As a final parting, Hernandez shares her life motto: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” -Nelson Mandela
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