Ashley Churchill

Professor Maurer
ED 199
Interview with Zionsville West
During the whole group interview, we had the privilege of interviewing Matthew
Doublestein. Mr. Doublestein is the principal at Zionsville West Middle School. I found it
remarkably interesting that students are in his building from 5th through 8th grade. At first, I was
concerned because 5th graders are so much different than 8th graders, but their philosophy is solid.
So much growth happens in middle school, so teachers work to make solid relationships with
students before “the wheels fall off.” Adolescents go through a remarkable amount of change:
mentally, emotionally, and physically, so by building relationships before the students encounter
these changes, the teachers are more capable of handling the crises that come up in students’
lives. The big idea with this interview was the importance of relationships. Doublestein even
mentioned that during the interview process, he looks for applicants that clearly care for students.
He can teach organization and lesson planning, but he cannot teach caring. The teachers’ goals in
middle school is to help the students grow past the awkward and confusing age and into a
confident high schooler. I appreciated his concern with students and the relationships he builds
with them because it is very true that students need a healthy relationship in order to thrive,
especially during the middle school time in their lives.
In the small group interviews, my group talked with Stacy Bales. Bales is a 6th grade
humanities teacher at Zionsville West Middle School, so she teaches English, literature, and
social studies. She has been teaching for 22 years in the same school corporation and the same
grade. Bales’ classroom is a project-based classroom. She has the students for large blocks of
time, so she can do about ten minutes of quiet reading time to learn the material and small group
activities the remainder of the period. She has found that students are more engaged and focus
better when they are working in partners or in small groups. Many of her lesson plans had to be
changed when the pandemic hit, but now that they are back in person, she started the small
groups back up. Bales mentioned that the hybrid method was a nightmare at their school, so she
is very thankful to be back in person with her students. One thing that surprised me during the
interview with Bales is that she prefers the elementary style over the 5th through 8th style. She
believes her building does the combined grades well, but sometimes the students act older when
they are with the 7th and 8th graders. This varied slightly from what Doublestein had talked about
with the middle school set up the way it was, but they both agreed that the relationships are
stronger because of the style they are teaching in. The interview with Stacy Bales showed her
genuine passion to be an educator. She was the first person that told me she jumps out of bed in
the morning excited to go to school to teach a lesson or do an activity. I loved to hear about the
passion and love that Bales has for her students and school!
A few tips Bales gave us are:
 Be sure to give very clear directions to students, especially when they are online. (Walk
through each step with them, so they have no excuse as to why they could not finish the
task.)
 Make sure the things you are doing online are editable, so the students can type their
answers directly onto a document.
 Always remember that you are destined for a certain grade. Bales thought she was going
to teach kindergarten, but now she has been teaching 6th grade for 22 years.
 Teaching is an all-consuming career, so make friends with other teachers.
 Never label a child in your head because children can change very quickly.
 When dealing with difficult parents remember to:
o Be okay with yourself
o Be bold
o Call on the phone rather than have a heated email battle
o Never show anger
o Do not be a push over
 Always remember that middle school is the weirdest time in a child’s life, so you must be
understanding
 Build relationships, even if it is hard online. It is necessary.
 Always keep a positive attitude!
o Know in your heart that teaching is your thing and forget about what everyone
else is saying to you!
Throughout the interviews this week, I noticed many core values demonstrated. The most
obvious one was “the excitement of teaching, learning, and mentoring.” Stacy Bales said she
“jumps out of bed in the morning” because she is so excited to teach her students or start a new
project with her students. Another core value that came out of the interviews was “the strength of
integrity and responsibility.” This core value is all about making “standards of conduct clear to
all students and consistently enforcing them in a fair and respectful manner.” Bales spoke to this
core value multiple times throughout the interview. First, she mentioned the importance of
giving clear instructions to students, especially online or in a hybrid situation. The students can
accomplish tasks on their own with clear directions, so she focuses on the core value with
students. But she also focuses on integrity and responsibility while talking with parents. Bales
told us that her method is to tell the parents the truth, and then go from there. By being honest
and responsible while talking with parents, Bales builds connections with families. The honesty,
integrity, and responsibility Bales shows is another reason she is such an inspirational educator.
Finally, Bales demonstrates the core value “technology proficiencies.” Throughout her
experience with the pandemic, she has converted her lessons to online lessons. She has also been
effectively teaching students in person and online throughout the past two weeks since in person
learning started. Throughout the interview, Bales showed that she understands “the flow and
trend of emerging technology to remain current.” I enjoyed talking with Stacy Bales about
middle school education, and her excitement for teaching was one of the many qualities she has
that makes her a great educator!