Mrs. Braatz is a business teacher with some unlikely hobbies. In this interview we dove into those hobbies and interests and how they came to be.
Q: What music do you listen to outside school?
A: My favorite genre would be 90s alternative music. My favorite bands are Pearl Jam, U2 and I’ve been on a Mumford and Sons kick lately.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?
A: I would say one of my favorite hobbies is woodworking. Probably 10 years ago I came across some plans to make an outdoor beverage cooler, and I thought that looks pretty cool. So I literally ordered a saw and a hand saw and a couple other things from Amazon and printed the plans off and built my very first project. And since then, it’s something that I really have a passion for. I love to make gifts for other people, like furniture or outdoor games, things my kids need for their rooms. It’s a nice thing for me too, it allows me to get away and it’s fun to be able to figure out how to make something. Especially when I don’t have plans, I like using problem solving skills.
Q: What is your favorite trip you’ve been on?
A: Traveling would probably be another one of my top hobbies. The most fun trip would be a trip my family took to Banff, Canada, and also to Glacier National Park in Wyoming. I love the mountains. It was incredibly beautiful. Had the opportunity to hike and see incredible sights and wildlife. We met up with a couple families, some friends of ours, for a couple parts of the trip too, which was really fun. I would say that was my favorite. It’s hard to pick, though,
Q: If you weren’t teaching what would you be doing?
A: I’ve thought about that. I would be a nurse. Although I’m two and a half years away from retirement, so I’m gonna stay with it. I love to teach, it’s really important to me, but I would love to be a nurse. I would if I could do it over again. I love the idea of helping other people. I’m very intrigued by science.
Q: What is the biggest difference you felt between being a high schooler and now teaching high schoolers?
A: Well, I was a high schooler way back in the late 80s and early 90s, it was a very different time. We didn’t have computers; we didn’t have the internet. That is a huge difference that I see as far as just the technology that’s available. It is a blessing and a curse, I think. But I also, being someone who’s been out of school for over 30 some years, it allows me a perspective as a teacher now to think about all the different career options that students have and the different opportunities that are out there for people. When I was in high school my focus was very narrow. I didn’t really understand all the options that were out there and all the different things I could pursue. I have a careers class that I teach, and now especially, there’s so many wonderful opportunities out there for people, and so it’s cool to help students figure out what their fit is.
Q: What is a book or movie you think everyone should watch or read?
A: I love to read as well. I was, for quite a while, on a Christine Hanna kick, and she has some really great historical fiction books, which I just love. Gosh, how do I even pick one of hers? I think one of my favorite ones was the Nightingale by Christine Hanna. I think everybody should read that. She has got a number of books about women that were involved in different wars. Some take place in, World War One, World War Two, Vietnam War and kind of the role that women played. Oftentimes back then it was thought that women shouldn’t be involved in war, yet women played critical roles. They were like secret spies, passing messages. Or they actually went to war and worked as nurses and in hospitals right on the front line.
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