Meet Ms. Heather Campbell! Ms. Campbell is the new hall monitor. She used to work in the cafeteria, but she is now a hall monitor. The reason she switched from the cafeteria to the hall monitor is that it has more hours and pays better. She came to Freedom because her kids go here for school. She’s never worked at a different school. Her favorite hobbies are playing with her kids and watching their sports after school. She said that it has been really fun working here and that she is not here to be mean but to help us out.

Meet Ms. Cassie Kocsis, who is the school nurse. She used to work at a prison and a nursing home, and she wanted to work at a school because she enjoys working with kids and seeing the new faces, and she likes to see the kids grow up. She has been a nurse for 4.5 years. The reason she came to Freedom is that she moved to the area. She was here last year for a little while and is back this year.

Meet Ms. Clark! Ms. Clark is a 7th and 8th grade middle school English teacher. She became a teacher because she fell in love with English,  and knew she wanted to be a teacher just like her teachers were and impact kids’ lives like they did hers. Her hobbies include traveling, hiking with her dog, reading, and shopping. She has been teaching for two years, and chose to teach ELA because she loves reading, and loves escaping to a different world when she reads, and she found that in English.

 “I loved English, I loved everything about it. I love discovering new ideas and I wanted to share that with kids,” Ms. Clark stated. She wants the students to know that she cares about them, not just as students, but as people. She is looking forward to writing down different sporting events so that she has different opportunities to see her kids outside of the classroom. 

“I love building relationships with them and seeing them do what they love,” Ms. Clark stated.

Ms. DiLullo is a wonderful teacher! She is a paraprofessional who has been teaching for 12 years; right now, this will be her 13th year teaching. Ms. DiLullo started teaching because she loves being with kids, “they’re wonderful” she said. She came to Freedom because she thought it would be a nice school with great students. At home, she has a cat named Cosmo, and two kids. One fun fact about Ms.DiLullo is that her favorite color is grey.

Meet Ms. McFarland the hall monitor. The reason why she works here is because her kids come here. She worked at Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri before she came here. She loves to go to Native American powwows in her free time! She has been doing great here at Freedom Area Middle School! She always wants her kids to do their very best every day! I hope you have learned so many new fun facts about Ms. McFarland that you didn’t know before.

Meet Ms. Moore! Ms. Moore is a paraprofessional. She came to Freedom because she was looking for another school job in a different area. The reason she started teaching was because she loves kids and loves being in the school environment. She doesn’t actually teach a subject, she is a para, so she goes to class with kids and helps them with doing their school work. 

Ms. Moore said “I chose it because I like to help people, specifically I like to help students do their work and go to class with them.” She has taught at Aliquippa and the Watson Institute. At Aliquippa she was an autism support aide, and at the Watson Institute she would help older kids the same way she did at Aliquippa. 

Some things she likes are cooking and eating. She also has a baby. She has been teaching since 2023. I asked her how long she wanted to be a teacher and she answered by saying “I’m actually going back to school for my masters but I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know if I want to do criminal justice or special education so honestly  I don’t know.” She looks forward to meeting new faces and meeting new people and socializing.

Meet Ms. Sowa-Doku! Ms. Lauren Sowa-Doku is the fifth and sixth grade learning support teacher. Ms. Sowa-Doku became a teacher because she likes the community that exists within a school district. The reason she chose Freedom as her school district is because of a job opportunity. Some of her hobbies are taking care of her son, doing crochet, and sports. She doesn’t have any pets, but her son’s name is Theo. She’s been teaching for eight years. She spent two years teaching at a school in Virginia and one year at Seneca Valley. She teaches 5th and 6th grade learning support, because she knows how challenging learning can be for some people. She’s in the yellow house of the middle school, which is the wolves. She said she’s been enjoying it here at Freedom and she hopes to continue teaching here.

Meet Ms. Verrico! Ms. Verrico is the life skills teacher for fifth through eighth grade. Her full name is CamdynVerrico. Why did she join Freedom, you might be asking? Ms. Verrico came to Freedom because she likes the community,  how everyone sticks together, and how close everyone is. 

“I did student teaching in a life skills classroom, and I loved it more than anything. I had a blast, so that was what I was looking for in a job,” Ms. Verrico, stated. Ms. Verrico also teaches reading and math. She has known from a very young age that she wanted to be a teacher. 

“I’ve always liked to make a difference in people’s lives for the better,” Verrico stated. Ms. Verrico also worked at the YMCA when she was 16, and loved it. She has never worked in another school, and she has been teaching for a month. 

“My favorite part of teaching is whenever a student finally understands something that I’ve been teaching and I  can see the light bulb go off in their head.”  

One of her hobbies is hanging out with her friends. She also likes spending time with her one-year-old Yorkie Bichon mix named Josie, reading, and going on walks. 

“Why I chose life skills is just because I know that I can make a huge difference in kids’ lives.” She’s been wanting to be a teacher for 10 years and never questioned it. Ms. Verrico says the year has gone very good so far and her favorite memory was when she and her class made popcorn.