Nicole Burkhalter
Welcoming a new position at Damascus High School, the new found Resource Counselor, Nicole Burkhalter, is not unfamiliar with the setting of Damascus as she is currently working her seventh year. As the new Resource Counselor, she does everything that a counselor does. Such as, supporting the students academically, socially, emotionally, but now she leads the department. When asked about her favorite part of the job at Damascus, she responded, “First, I think our kids are amazing, we have a really good group of students here. Probably the best in the county”.
Jeremy Spoales
Entering his tenth year of teaching at Damascus High School, Jeremy Spoales now finds himself in a new position: the Social Studies Resource Teacher. Prior to this year, Spoales taught Honors U.S. History and coached soccer and flag football. He has wanted to become a Resource Teacher for a while, but until this year coaches weren’t allowed to also be resource teachers. Now that he can do both, Spoales is eager to be an important asset to the Social Studies department this year. Spoales said that being a resource teacher is like being a “coach for adults”, where he gets to help with lesson plans and substitutes. Spoales also still teaches U.S. History periods 3-5, and with another year of soccer on the way, he looks forward to a fulfilling year ahead full of coaching students and staff members alike.
Charlie Doherty
Charlie Doherty isn’t new to Damascus, neither is he new to the musical department. He loves music and loves the students he teaches with in the musical department. Working here for 19 years coming up to his 20th year, he loves the school and staff. When he first arrived, he explained how he was welcomed by many and instantly felt like he belonged. He also expresses how great the staff are due to how they really do the best they can to support one another. He points out that though the school and some of the material here are very old, people here take good care of them. He loves how everyone here keeps this school spirit alive and well.
Katherine Hinsvark
Katherine Hinsvark teaches special education in the Secondary Learning and Academic Disabilities program (LAD) and is a co-teacher for ninth and tenth grade English. She has been teaching MCPS for 25 years but this is her first few months in Damascus. The LAD department helps special ed students who struggle with learning and/or academic difficulties in class to help them pass the curriculum. She says that her favorite part of that program is “seeing kids succeed with their assignments”. When she’s not at school she’s a mom, she says that it’s her “other full time job, I have three kids” she continues “I also have a dog named Duke, he’s a yellow lab and he loves to eat everything”.
Jennifer Grimes-Ralph
Jennifer Grimes-Ralph is the new Admin Secretary. She usually goes by Mrs. Ralph. Before she started working as Admin Secretary, she mainly worked at the central office. She previously worked at the fingerprinting office where she processed backgrounds. She then worked as admin for the chief and director of security. All three of her children graduated from Damascus High. In her free time, she enjoys reading.
Lea Sybrant
Lea Sybrant, a former co-teacher in the English department, welcomes a new turn in her life. Now expressing an exciting determination for her new culinary class, she leaps at the opportunity with hope that “it will give an authentic experience for restaurant management students”. Such classes offer a skill set of “learning back and front of the house service”, along with “learning all aspects of running a commercial kitchen”. Sybrant’s new role is quite different compared to her old one, but that aspect brings most of the fun. Though she will miss her relationships as a co-teacher, she’s happy to say that her new students are eager to learn and excited to cook. The kitchens are currently under construction and are expected to be completed around September 26, so when their bakery gets running be sure to visit. The culinary teacher and students will welcome you with open arms.
Tara Erichson
A brand new staff member joins Damascus, Tara Erichson, who is now a Spanish teacher (Spanish 3 and 5, Spanish Speaker 3 , and AP Spanish). So far she loves the Damascus community because it “seems really nice, and seems like a very nice tight knit community which is much different than [North West which] is one of the biggest schools in the county”. Students in her classroom are, “very disposed to take chances and participate. Which I think speaks to the community and the type of students that we have and people seem to be really invested in doing well”. Students in her classes enjoy playing games that supplement their learning.
Tyler Brooks
Though Tyler Brooks is new to Damascus High School, he isn’t new to teaching many students throughout Montgomery County. Mr Brooks joined the DHS program with teaching experiences of 12 years. Mainly starting at Clarksburg for 10 years and going into Walt Whitman for two. Brooks teaches engineering and computer programming. He explains how the community here has a very strong sense of community and tradition. He expresses how students here are great. Though Walt Whitman’s school environment was a little different, he is adjusting to and enjoying his time at DHS.
Sarah Hoffman
Sarah Hoffman teaches Foundations of Art, Studio Art 1, and Advanced Studio 2, 3, and 4. However, she has a different way of looking at her job, “I think a better way to describe my position as a Fine Arts teacher is that I provide students with a safe space to explore the creative process. I provide the tools, skills/techniques, and questions for students to develop their own unique and creative answers to”. Hoffman has had a comfortable transition, and feels fortunate to work with Damascus High Schools’ amazing educators, staff members, and students. When asked about working at Damascus she stated, “My favorite part is getting to know my students. They are amazing artists and bring with them unique experiences, views, and talent. I’m excited to see what amazing artwork they create this year”.
Kayla White
Kayla White is the new math connections coordinator at Damascus. Connections courses provide extra support for students who may need it in specific subjects. Originally from Rhode Island, White has been a teacher within MCPS for 17 years, her latest school being Wooton High School, where she worked as the math resource teacher. White mentioned, “The building could use a little love, but the community is full of it (love)”. White displays honest hope for this school year and is focusing on completing her internship for administrative permissions. White’s favorite subject in math is calculus, and outside of school, she enjoys reading.
Taleya Hurdle
Taleya Hurdle is a 24th year teacher, but this is her first year teaching in high school. “My first thoughts were about how much larger Damascus is than a middle school,” Hurdle explained. “But it wasn’t overwhelming because all the staff members were so welcoming”. Hurdle is a southwest Philadelphia native who found her way to Maryland after attending Bowie State to obtain her graduate degree. A fun fact about her is she went to high school with Leslie Odom Jr. She had many good things to say about the community of the Damascus staff and students. “I am looking forward to collaborating with other teachers and getting to know them better”, Hurdle stated. “So far it has been so welcoming here. I enjoyed meeting other teachers in my department. We all got matching shirts and took a picture in the courtyard”. The main reason she became a teacher is because she wanted to contribute to the “lightbulb moments” that students have. “I was inspired by supportive teachers I had growing up”, Hurdle described. Hurdle wishes to maintain her core values of teaching at Damascus. She believes that every student is capable of learning when given the support and guidance they need. Overall, her experience so far has been described as positive and she is excited to start this new chapter here at Damascus High School.
Matthew “Austin” Simmons
While Matthew “Austin” Simmons is new to Damascus High School, he is not a rookie to the teaching game. Simmons joins us at Damascus with seven years of teaching under his belt, many being at Gaithersburg High School. He originally started teaching after realizing his biggest passion is wanting to help people. He wanted to be an adult at the school that wasn’t a “friend” to the students but made them feel safe and comfortable. His first impressions of Damascus are that students are very driven, “I love it. The students are extremely respectful and seem to have a passion for something, whether that’s a sport they play or a subject they are interested in”. He says it is extremely admirable that Damascus fosters an environment where students are free to express themselves and experiment socially. One thing he wants all his students and coworkers to know is, “I want you to be comfortable coming to me if I have disrespected you. I value fairness and I would be willing to work through any problem together”. Simmons wants to thank Damascus for reigniting his love for teaching.
Robyn Dubois
Robyn Dubois is a new health and physical education teacher at Damascus High School. She is currently teaching two health classes, two soccer classes, and girls weight training. For the past nine years, she has been at Einstein High School teaching yoga. Her favorite part of working at Damascus is the school spirit. When asked if she experienced any nerves during the transition, Dubois shared that it was “probably the first day of school, meeting all the new people: staff and students. It went great though. I was a little nervous about getting lost but figured it out quick”! She looks forward to being involved in athletics and clubs, alongside staff and students.
Lisa Ehrenspeck
Lisa Ehrenspeck is the new music teacher at Damascus. Starting on the violin, Ehrenspeck grew to love music through the means of her family, and the way music can teach everyone new skills, languages, and overall, challenge ways of thinking. Ehrenspeck’s goal for the year is to establish herself at Damascus through the means of music and being here as a teacher. Ehrenspeck is rather busy; she spends her mornings at Baker Middle School, and comes by Damascus after lunch. When asked about a piece of advice, Ehrenspeck immediately called to action, “Be present in your life! Your phones will be there, don’t let time fly away from you because you don’t believe it”. So take it from her, talk and be present, and let her know if you intend to visit her in room 118.
Ayao Sossou
A very well known and beloved staff member, Ayao Sossou, has been here at Damascus High School for five years now. He previously was a para-educator where his responsibilities included working with students and assisting teachers in the classroom. He still is a para-educator but has taken on the new role of a student support coordinator. Sossou explains “students that get into trouble or are having emotional or behavioral problems come in here after they deal with administration so they are either in [my office] for in school suspension or just calm down before getting back to class”. He also shared how he is everywhere so the good thing about this new role is that it’s very flexible. So sometimes, if there is nobody in there I am in classrooms helping out students”. The job lets him have conversations with students to get to know them better. His job also allows him to work in a “quieter room where I can actually get to work with them without being in an actual classroom”. Sossou gets to have the best of both worlds when it comes to working with students in different environments.
Nicole Moravy
Nicole Moravy isn’t new to Damascus, nor is she new to the English department. Previously the full-time staff development teacher, she took on the role of English Resource Teacher over the summer, as well as taking on two classes of English 12. Stepping into this new role felt “like coming home”, similar to the warmth she felt during her first year teaching English at DHS. Upon the new school year starting, Moravy did a lot of prep work and training to make sure she was well prepared for this role. Specifically, she attended multiple training courses on the changing English 10 curriculum and worked on planning for her English 12 classes. With the responsibilities changing, being the resource teacher meant a lot more attention on the English department. Opposed to her previous role, being the staff development teacher and focusing on the whole school.
Moving forward, Moravy continues to expand her relationships within the department as everyone seems extremely supportive of her stepping into the role. She also shares that one of the focus points for the English Department this year will be teaching analysis and she encourages teachers to lean on each other as resources. She also hopes the English department can provide the best English instruction possible and focus on all the tiny details that make a big difference.
Dr. Laura Cuppone
Dr. Laura Cuppone has been teaching at Damascus for five years. However, this year, she’s taking on three positions, two of them new: the Staff Development Teacher, ELD Resource Teacher, and World language Resource Teacher. With these new roles, she balances her classes by “giving each role a few hours” of the day while only teaching one world language class. This aids in giving all of her attention to her other tasks. Cuppone feels that, so far, she’s doing well and feels that she can “…always rely on Mrs. Moravy as an expert and as a staff developer”. Being at Damascus has shown Dr. Cuppone “by being in a smaller school, you’re able to create in-depth relationships with teachers and students, overall creating a tied community”. Dr. Cuppone has shown that she cares greatly about our school.
Sam Mason
Sam Mason is a Special Education LAD teacher who co-teaches with the Social Studies Department. Mason also helps out with the flag football program here at DHS. On the field and in the classroom, Mason is a strong addition to the Hornet family.
Joseph “Joey” Bryan
Joseph “Joey” Bryan has been a teacher for nine years, but is fairly new to being an MCPS teacher, having been one for three years. He teaches astronomy at DHS. When he is not in school, he tutors, attends online graduate school in Moreland University, based in D.C., plays with his dog, and binge-watches Netflix shows, even though his favorite recent TV shows are not available on Netflix; he is currently watching “Only Murders in the Building”. When asked what he wanted to be when he was younger, he said, “At first I had dreams of becoming a doctor,” he continues, “and that kinda changed over the years”. He wants his students to be curious and open-minded. He explains that “science is based on curiosity, and I want my students to ask good questions and then have the tools they need to explore those questions”.
Matthew Shipe
Matthew Shipe is the new security assistant at Damascus High School. He enjoys working here because our students are enjoyable to work with. For the last nine years, he worked a security position at different schools. In his free time he spends time with his son and golfing with his friends.
Michael Hinsvark
Brand new to Damascus High School and co-teacher in English and US History classes, Michael Hinsvark has been teaching for several years, previously outside the county. Now working in special education, Mr. Hinsvark is looking forward to getting to know his students and connecting with everyone, stating, “Yeah, I’m definitely enjoying building relationships with my students, getting to know them, and what they like and dislike”. One activity Mr. Hinsvark enjoys watching movies, with his favorite being “Rush Hour” starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
Kimberly Grossett
Kimberly Grossett isn’t new to the world of books, but she is new to the state of Maryland. Having previously worked in Texas and Virginia, she began her career as an English teacher. The DHS community has been extremely welcoming to her and reminds her of the close-knit community of her previous schools. Her goals for improving the media center are to be more of an open place for all students, regardless of if they enjoy reading or not. She also wishes to make the courtyard connected to the media center a better hangout area where students can work together.
Grossett’s love for reading really pushed her into the original profession of an English teacher, and she feels like she “moved naturally” into the position of media specialist. If Grossett had to describe herself as a book, she would choose any book in the historical fiction genre with a strong female lead. Stop by the media center this year to learn more about her.
