Lower Moreland is introducing five brand new teachers this school year. We’d like to give a warm welcome to Mr. Kaufmann, Ms. Lutzker, and Mr. Taylor in the Science department, Miss McShane in the English department, Miss Morozin in the Language department. I got the opportunity to interview all of these people individually to get an understanding of what their backgrounds are and their passions and personalities.
Mr. Kaufmann
Down in the G100s hallway, Mr. Kaufmann is joining the staff this year and teaching conceptual physics, college prep physics, and biology. Mr. Kaufmann worked at Harrison High School before switching to Lower Moreland for an easier commute.
However, Mr. Kauffman didn’t start off his career with teaching. After completing his undergraduate degree at Lehigh University and getting his Master’s from Temple University, Mr. Kaufmann worked at pharmaceutical companies like J&J and Teva and has an extensive background in biomedical engineering. At one point, he stepped back from the work force to be a stay-at-home dad for about 8 years to take care of his 3 kids. During this time, he was involved with volunteering with his kids’ elementary school PTA and was a Cub Scout leader.
When re-entering the work force, Mr. Kaufmann knew he wanted to continue working with kids because “I was working in a cubicle, it was kind of boring, or I could make more of an impact.” Even with his experience with younger children, teaching high schoolers seemed more interesting to him. “I mean, high schoolers are cooler, you can do more interesting stuff, like we could do more interesting labs and everything.” When getting certified, he worked as a substitute teacher for preschool but “I couldn’t take that every day.” Mr. Kaufmann takes pride and joy in being able to go into depth with science with people who he loves to be around.
Besides just science and working, Mr. Kaufmann told me about a variety of different interests he has. He and his family love to go outdoors and even own an RV. A lot of his time is also dedicated to taking care of his kids and handling their different extracurricular activities. Both of his daughters do horseback riding and his son is a member of the Scouts and enjoys robotics. Furthermore, he loves football, soccer, and playing guitar.
Before having kids, Mr. Kaufmann did improv comedy in Philly and even travelled to a few different cities for it. “We’d get on stage and would do long-form improv. You have 20 to 30 minutes, you get a one word suggestion and you just make up a whole show.” When asked, Mr. Kaufmann expressed his love for comedy and since he had the time and money, he took classes and performed for 4 years.
Miss Lutzker
When you’re in your early 20s, you don’t always know what you want to do with your life. Ms. Lutzker was one of those people. She had a strong love for art and writing and went to University of Pittsburgh to get a Bachelor’s in Art. Starting out, she could not see herself in a classroom, so she decided to explore other careers. Ms. Lutzker also felt a lot of pressure to get a good job and found herself working at multiple different nature conservatories because she has always loved teaching. During my interview, Ms. Lutzer emphasized, “It’s okay to not always know what’s going to happen next,” and noted how she doesn’t regret any of the exploration she did.
Originally thinking she would be doing something with her English degree, Ms. Lutzker found herself working in a job relating to the environment. During this time, she worked with places such as Heritage Conservancy and Schuylkill Center, educating others and taking care of nature. Her time taking care of the environment helped Ms. Lutzker realize her love for science, which eventually led to her doing coursework in multiple sciences and getting certified to teach. Now at Lower Moreland, she teaches Biology, Environmental Science, and is an advisor for the Environmental Club.
In her downtime, Ms. Lutzker loves spending time with nature, including bird watching and hiking. She also spends her time cooking and baking, playing with her cat, taking care of her plants, and listening to live music. When asked, she expressed that she mainly sticks to 90s and 2000s music given that’s what she grew up with, specifically The War on Drugs and general Classic Emo music. Furthermore, Ms. Lutzker stated that she can listen to everything but modern country. She and her partner love to travel and have been to 6 countries and can also speak Spanish to aid with her travels.
Mr. Taylor
Teaching Chemistry and Environmental Science along with being a coach for the Girls Volleyball team, Mr. Taylor is the third new science teacher here at Lower Moreland. Mr. Taylor always had a passion for teaching, but his friends had doubts about teaching as a career. Mr. Taylor switched over to another interest he had, choosing to get his Bachelor’s at the University of Pittsburgh in forensic science. He eventually grew sick of the repetitive nature that his job brought and went back to school to become a teacher.
Given he is the oldest of four siblings, Mr. Taylor was always willing to help explain subjects to his siblings. He would later transfer that skill to helping others at school and those around them and realized he had a way with words. Mr. Taylor grew to love teaching others, and being in a high school setting allows him to do something he’s passionate about while also teaching something he has that same passion for. Mr. Taylor also expressed his love for being in a space where every day is different.
When not in the classroom, Mr. Taylor can be found spending time with family and friends. He also loves to work out in his downtime, dabbles in singing and piano, and going to church. Besides that, Mr. Taylor spoke about how growing up his family had gotten a pet shark at the pet store and it became a bonding experience for his siblings. The four of them would go to the pet store and buy four smaller fishes and bet on which one was eaten last by the shark.
Miss McShane
Joining us in the English Department, Miss McShane teaches 10th grade American literature. Miss McShane got her undergraduate degree in English from Penn State back in 2023. While working on both her Master’s and her teacher certification, Miss McShane worked as an instructional aid at Mary Avenue. She also worked as a student teacher at Hatboro-Horsham High School.
Prior to her arrival, Miss McShane was a long-term substitute teacher at Upper Dublin High School teaching 11th and 12th grade literature. The contract ended with the school year ending and Miss McShane was ready to look for a more permanent position to continue her teaching career. Miss McShane believes that “I’m a pretty organized, type-A type of person” and so far that trait has helped her handle the workload of having to create brand new lesson plans. “I think I’m just trying my best to juggle my responsibilities here and what I do outside of school,” she states.
Miss McShane realized she wanted to be a teacher back when she was in high school. “I know this might be a cliché. I had like a really great English teacher, but I feel like I left that classroom learning not just about the boring, nitty gritty details of English like grammar, but more so life lessons and just things that I could apply outside of the classroom to my own life.” To Miss McShane, the classroom should be a place where you learn not just about the subject but also about yourself and those around you. The life lessons she had from her English teacher back in high school really connected with her and motivated her to teach English specifically.
English is more than just the literature you read in class; it’s something you can use to learn a new perspective. Miss McShane really emphasized to me how English as a subject is “where you can really open your mind and learn new perspectives and get to know more about yourself, but also other people’s perspectives,” because that is one of the most important things you can do. “I’m all about teaching the whole person, not just the student, so I really believe in that whole process of becoming open-minded.”
Besides that, Miss McShane loves an environment where everything is always changing. Teaching High School meant she was able to create deeper connections with students and learn things from those students. She even notes how “I feel like I learn from my students every day as well. I think sometimes I learn more from them than they’re learning from me.” Miss McShane loves how the job creates a two-way street and wants things to continue that way in the future.
When not on the job, she’s busy with a variety of hobbies. Miss McShane loves reading and watching movies and shows. Some of her favorites from the latter are Stephen King’s books, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and Almost Famous. I also asked if she had any favorite genres and she responded with liking anything but horror movies. To decompress, Miss McShane likes pilates and yoga, things she does after school. Similarly, she told me about how she loves spending time with her dog and family, especially her cousins and younger brother.
Miss (Profe) Morozin
Returning to Lower Moreland after graduating in 2020, Profe Morozin found this to be an amazing way to give back to her community. Profe Morozin found her love for teaching during her time in the building and was quick to apply once she realized the same school that showed her that passion was looking for a Spanish teacher. She told me, “Once I heard that there was a Spanish teaching position open, I immediately jumped on it because I thought, what a nice way to give back to my community.” Having finished her first year of teaching at Nazareth Academy High School, she was ready to continue her career at the high school she once attended. Both of us saw this as a full circle moment that finally came true.
Profe Morozin started her Spanish journey when she was about six years old. Spanish was something important to her and she always knew she wanted to pursue something with the language. High school convinced her to become a Spanish teacher. After leaving high school, she went to the University of Delaware and spent some time studying abroad in Granada, Spain. There she studied both Spanish and Education. Now you can find her teaching Spanish levels 3CP, 5 Honors and 5CP.
From a young age, Profe Morozin was taught the importance of education. Her parents taught her that “Education is the one thing that nobody can take away from you, and education is something that is so powerful.” Given that Spanish is her second language, “I find that being someone who speaks two languages and Spanish being my second, it actually makes it easier to help teach students.” Using her own experience, Profe Morozin loves connecting with students because she was once in their spot, trying to learn Spanish. “I can understand from their perspective where things get tricky or where there’s mistakes because I once was making those mistakes as a language learner myself,” she states. It is those same students who motivate her to show up and try her best every single day.
In terms of learning the language, it was living abroad that really pushed things for her. “I’d say probably the hardest part was living abroad and adjusting to the culture,” but “getting used to the Spanish accent that was used in Spain was also really difficult.” Profe Morozin noted how the first few days were focused on just trying to understand and communicate with the people around her. Despite the difficulties, she’s very excited to be chaperoning the trip to Spain that will be happening later on in the school year.
A few other things to note about Profe Morozin are that she loves the color pink, eating rice, journaling, and different forms of art. She told me how theater is another one of her passions as she just loves to perform. Profe Morozin also views Spanish to be her main passion and something she values highly.
