You know your teachers as homework giving, test making, and overall strict teachers. They’re always at school at 7:40. But what do they do after school? Did they ever play an instrument? (for band teachers, that’s obvious, we hope). Have they ever dyed their hair? In this interview, you’ll find some things you never knew about your teachers and the answer to some questions you’ll be dying to know! (and some you may not want to know😉)

“When I get bored, I just change it (hair color) a little bit.” –Ms. Churinskas

Question 1: Have you ever dyed your hair, and if so what color? If you’ve never dyed your hair before, what color would you dye it?

Mrs. Curbishley: I get my hair highlighted, but I’ve never dyed the whole thing. I do it so it gets rid of the gray, ‘cause I have gray hair. So I dye it to get rid of the gray.

Mrs. Lang: Oh my god!!! Don’t ask that!!! Next question!!! Don’t ever ask an adult that type of question!!! That’s like asking an adult how old they are!!!

Mr. Quilter: Funny you asked. I have. I dyed it red. It was for support of someone in my town who had brain cancer and a tumor, and it was through support for him.

Mr. Buck: No I have never dyed my hair before, but I would dye my hair a salt and pepper color, like a gray and black mix.

Ms. Haley: I dye my hair all the time. I’ve had red hair before, black hair before, brown hair. My next hair color will be purple. I think that would look really cool, and this is not my natural hair color either. (Points to honey colored hair)

Ms. Kinney: I’ve never dyed my hair, I’ve only highlighted it lighter. My hair is blonde, so when I grew older, it became darker. I would never dye my hair, I only highlight it.

Ms. Churinskas: I’ve dyed my hair many different colors. I’ve dyed it so much I don’t know what my actual hair color is. I’ve dyed it brown, red, light brown, dark brown, and, well, a lot more. When I get bored, I just change it a little bit.

Mr. Fultz: I dyed it white. For a play I was in. It was in Guys and Dolls, and I was Abernathy. And I dyed my hair white. Now it’s just turning that color on it’s own.

Mrs. Ferrara: Yes. How do I say this? It’s never been like a fun color. I dye it to keep all the grays not showing. I dye it to keep myself looking young, how ‘bout that?

Mrs. Stewart: In sixth grade, they had a competition on St. Patrick’s day, and I was stuck with a green scalp and green hair, I had like white hair (because I had to bleach it) when I was in sixth through seventh grade.

Ms. Crain: When I was a teenager I decided to be blonde using a product all the other kids were buying called “Sun In” without telling my mother. It didn’t work, my hair turned orange. My mother was not happy with me!

Ms. Mayes: I have never dyed my hair, and I don’t think I would, I love my natural color.

Mrs. Cohen: I dye it my natural color. [chuckles] With reddish highlights. But I’ve never dyed it a funky color. I think dying your hair with Kool-aid is a fun idea.

 

“I’m a big fan of sleep.” –Mr. Quilter

Question 2: What do you do in your free time?

Mrs. Curbishley: In my free time, I take long walks with my dog. I like to scrapbook and quilt, and I like to do cooking in the kitchen, like making things.

Mrs. Lang: Hang out with my friends. I also like to go to see musicals and plays.

Mr. Quilter: My free time? I like to cook. I like to watch movies. And, I’m a big fan of sleep.

Mr. Buck: I like to run and I also like to go to the gym. I also do a lot of gardening outside, so I do a lot of work outdoors. I spend a lot of time with my family too, and I like to go on vacations.

Ms. Haley: I go out in my boat and I hang out with my dad.

Ms. Kinney: I hang out with my friends and my husband, I like to watch TV and stay up late, and I like to do home improvements. I’m really not that excited.

Ms. Churinskas: So, in my free time, a lot of my time is taking care of my family, and taking care of activities, but some of the stuff that I do for fun is that I go to the gym, and I have a book club. The book club is somewhere where I share books with my book club and we talk about the book. And I really like that because you get to be social but you still get to talk about stuff like your reading.

Mr. Fultz: Do lunch ‘n’ learns! I play in a fife and drum group. I like to play X-Box. I do World of Tanks.

Mrs. Ferrara: I have a family so I have two kids at home and a husband. I teach private lessons, I play in different ensembles, and I do community theater.

Mrs. Stewart: I do a lot of things. I like to do arts and crafts, I like to practice (my instrument), I like to exercise, yoga and tennis, I like to read as well.

Ms. Crain: My free time opportunities differ quite a bit depending on the season! During the school year, there’s not too much after grading, writing lesson plans, etc… I like to read, enjoy movies and shows, quilt and try new restaurants. During warmer weather I am a long distance cyclist and love to relax on Cape Cod. I especially like traveling to new places in the USA and abroad.

Ms. Mayes: In my free time, I spend a lot of time with my family and boyfriend. I like to read, I teach piano in the night time and I like to go to the gym.

Mrs. Cohen: I’m in graduate school right now, so I don’t have a lot of free time because I’m getting my doctorate degree. But if I do have time, I like to go to plays and restaurants and museums. I also like to work on the the Mercer County Turkey Trot, which my husband and I created in 2013.

 

“We have a one hundred and twenty pound rottweiler named Jake.” –Ms. Kinney

Question 3: Do you own any pets, and if so what kind? If you don’t own any pets, what pet would you get and why?

Mrs. Curbishley: Okay, I have a dog, and she was a rescue dog but she’s like a wheaten terrier.

Mrs. Lang: I do! I own a doggy. A golden retriever. Her name is Roxy.

Mr. Quilter: I do not have any right now. I used to have some dogs. But they are no longer [here]…. I’m a dog fan.

Mr. Buck: I have a cat named Skittles (just turned fifteen years old). She’s a barn cat, and she sleeps in the basement, but she also likes to spend time outdoors. I also would like to have a dog someday.

Ms. Haley: My parents have two dogs that are kinda mine. They’re kinda cute.

Ms. Kinney: We have a one hundred and twenty pound rottweiler named Jake.

Ms. Churinskas: I have a pet. I have a pet dog, and his name is Schmidty. He’s a Schnoodle, which is a mix between a schnauzer and a poodle, and he’s actually the first dog I’ve ever owned because I was afraid of dogs when I was younger.

Mr. Fultz: I have a labrador retriever named Maggie.

Mrs. Ferrara: I have three cats. Two of them look like Garfield. One of my “garfield’s” is cranky, but the other two are okay. They’re big fat orange cats.

Mrs. Stewart: I have two dogs, they look like puppies, they are from Tibet (the breed). I adopted the first from a shelter, and he used to be antisocial so I bought him another dog.

Ms. Crain: Over the years I have had 3 Golden Retrievers. Most recently I am “grandmom” to Scarlett, a rescued Boston Terrier. She moved with my daughter to Portland, OR and I REALLY miss her! She has an Instagram account so I get to follow her every day.

Ms. Mayes: I don’t own any pets, but I would love to get a cat; I grew up with cats, but now my apartment doesn’t allow cats.

Mrs. Cohen: I would love to get a dog because I think they’d be fun because they always want to see you, but I can’t have the responsibility since I’m out of the house so much.

 

“I play everything. (obviously)”–Mr. Fultz

Question 4: Did you play any music instruments when you were young, and if so, what was it and why did you choose that instrument? If you didn’t play any instruments, what instrument would you play, and why?

Mrs. Curbishley: I played the violin. When I was an adult, I played the piano for a year.

Mrs. Lang: I played flute and violin. I played the violin for maybe a year or so, not that long.

Mr. Quilter: In third grade, I was forced to play the recorder, because everyone played it. From starting in fourth grade, till sophomore year in high school, I played the saxophone. To be more specific the alto and tenor. Now, I just started playing guitar, so I’m not that good at it yet.

Mr. Buck: I played the guitar when I was young, but it’s been so long, and I’m so old, I don’t even know how to play it anymore. When I was young, I didn’t have a good music program like you guys do.

Ms. Haley: I played the clarinet for four months and I was very bad at it. Then I joined the choir for a few years and I really liked it. I was actually really good at it.

Ms. Kinney: Nope. I don’t even know how to read music. I would like to play drums. I’ve always wanted to play drums, but I never did.

Ms. Churinskas: I actually played the piano when I was younger, but not for that long. I was probably in first or second grade when I started, but I only did it for two or three years because I didn’t practice enough.

Mr. Fultz: I play everything. I play all band instruments. I’m horrible at piano. And I cannot play string instruments.

Mrs. Ferrara: Yes I did! I started on the french horn in third grade, and then, as the years went by, I started picking up different instruments throughout middle school and high school. By the time I graduated high school, I knew how to play almost everything in the band. Flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, euphonium… I also sang throughout my whole life.

Mrs. Stewart: I started singing very early, I played piano and I heard Sarah Chiang play the violin, I really wanted to play the violin, I played flute a bit too.

Ms. Crain: I played the piano, a Knabe Grand that had been my grandmother’s. In middle school I took up the guitar. My high school had an all-girl’s bagpipe band that I considered and tried but it didn’t work out…

Ms. Mayes: I have been playing the piano, I love playing piano and listening to music and now I teach piano.

Mrs. Cohen: So I learned how to play classical Spanish guitar. How ‘bout that, which I can still do. But I always wanted to learn the piano. So instead I gave my kids piano lessons so that they could play it for me.

 

“Go to an island together and have one huge party.” –Mrs. Lang

Question 5: If you had a billion dollars and the world was about to end, what would you do with it?

Mrs. Curbishley: Hmm… I’d go to Hawaii. [chuckles]

Mrs. Lang: Well, the world’s about to end, I guess I would… I don’t wanna say something silly, I’m thinking something silly. Should I burn it to keep me safe? I don’t know. So, I would probably gather my family for one huge party, I guess. Go to an island together and have one huge party.

Mr. Quilter: That’s dark. I would buy my parents some houses and I would split the rest with my family and close friends and then I would treat myself to try to buy out SeaWorld.

Mr. Buck: If the world was about to end, I wouldn’t be thinking about money. I would probably be trying to spend the last of my time with my friends and my family.

Ms. Haley: I would invest half of it in trying to stop the world from ending. Then, I’d spend the other half on a massive amount of chocolate.

Ms. Kinney: That’s a good question, I would take my family to Hawaii. I’ve been there twice, but my kids haven’t, and buy a fancy car too.

Ms. Churinskas: It wouldn’t really matter, I would probably just go somewhere with my family and spend time together and wait for the world to end tragically.

Mr. Fultz: Spend it. On whatever my family wanted, actually I’d buy a planet and move there.

Mrs. Ferrara: Woah! That’s a big question. I guess I would travel around the world as much as I could, so I’d get to see it before the world is gone. Yeah. I’d travel, and get to eat the foods around the world. In my own private airplane, of course, so I’d get there faster.

Mrs. Stewart: If I could save the globe, but what is life without instruments? So I would buy a lot of instruments and teach students.

Ms. Crain: Get my family together and buy the biggest mansion available on the ocean in Cape Cod.

Ms. Mayes: I would travel, I would go to different countries in Europe and South America and I would bring my family with me.

Mrs. Cohen: Stop the world from ending.

 

“You could have an entire smorgasbord of flavors.”–Mrs. Cohen

Question 6: What’s your favorite dessert and why?

Mrs. Curbishley: Chocolate cake with vanilla icing. Like, really really chocolate. Like, dark chocolate cake with chocolate chips and vanilla icing.

Mrs. Lang: Probably like a chocolate lava, like a molten lava cake, ‘cause it’s rich and delicious.

Mr. Quilter: Oooh. That’s hard. Oh my goodness, that’s really hard. I’m a big pie guy, so any kinda pie. My favorite is apple pie.

Mr. Buck: My favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies because they are easy to eat, and you can eat them on the run.

Ms. Haley: Ooh… Raw cookie dough because it’s delicious. It’s the best. And I feel like a rebel when I eat them.

Ms. Kinney: I would say anything with chocolate and peanut butter and whipped cream because it’s such a good combination of flavors. It’s like a party in my mouth.

Ms. Churinskas: My favorite dessert is ice cream. It’s just creamy and delicious and it tastes good all the time.

Mr. Fultz: Oh my favorite dessert? Is a berry cobbler that is served at Artist Point in Walt Disney World.

Mrs. Ferrara: My favorite dessert… chocolate chip cookies and ice cream because I like the combination combination of those two things together.

Mrs. Stewart: Strawberry ice cream, I have always loved strawberry. Chocolate is also really great. I enjoy both of them.

Ms. Crain: That is a difficult one, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE!!! Fudge cake or a really good quality brownie with Haagen Dazs, or Halo Pub mint chocolate chip ice cream. I missed lunch today, now you have me really hungry and dreaming about dessert.

Ms. Mayes: Oh boy, this is the toughest question you asked. Anything with chocolate in it, chocolate chip cookies, brownies……

Mrs. Cohen: Cookies, ‘cause there are so many different types, and you could have an entire smorgasbord of flavors, and get to try a whole bunch.

 

“No answer. That’s my answer.” –Ms. Haley

Question 7: Have you ever got a tattoo, and if so what type? If you didn’t get a tattoo, what would you like to get?

Mrs. Curbishley: I’ve never gotten a tattoo, and I don’t think I’d get a tattoo, but if I had a tattoo, I’d probably just get my children’s initials or something.

Mrs. Lang: That is awkward. Yeah… I’m gonna pass. I’m doing a pass, like Ms. Haley.

Mr. Quilter: I have not gotten a tattoo. I have not thought about getting one either.

Mr. Buck: No. I have not. There are no tattoos on me, and I would never want to get one. I don’t want one! It would be invisible, I guess, ‘cause I don’t like tattoos. Tattoos, and piercing……. and ugh! But if I were really going to get a tattoo, I would get a big one that looks like a microscope.

Ms. Haley: Um… I’m uncomfortable with this question… No answer. That’s my answer. No answer. If anybody else has a tattoo, I might change my answer.

2nd interview: Yes. I have a tattoo. On my leg. You’ll never see it. It’s right here (pats her thigh). I never wear shorts to school though, so you’ll never see it.

Ms. Kinney: I would never get a tattoo. To be honest with you, I would never get a tattoo. I would probably be the last person to get one, although I draw tattoos for other people. Some people teach me how to draw them too, although I would never draw them for myself.

Ms. Churinskas: I’ve never gotten a tattoo and I would not get a tattoo. I just don’t like them. Sometimes they look nice on other people, but I feel like it’s just not my style. If I had to, I would get something very very tiny. I would get a real small infinity symbol ‘cause I like the infinity symbol.

Mr. Fultz: Tattoo? That you could see? [thinks] No. That’s truthful…. If you say so.

Mrs. Ferrara: I do not have a tattoo. I’d thought about it once but I was afraid of the needles. But it would definitely be something musical.

Mrs. Stewart: …… I have a tattoo, after my father died, it is the F holes on the violin on my back. Also, you can’t see them. The way my father passed away, it was really tragic for me.

Ms. Crain: No tattoos for me – my daughter got one for both of us (a baseball and a map of Cape Cod)

Ms. Mayes: I have not (gotten a tattoo). If I were to, it would represent my family or my faith.

Mrs. Cohen: No. I would never get a tattoo because I’m not a big fan of needles.

So there you have it! Some of your dying questions answered! Who knew some of your favorite teachers had tattoos? Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the other articles of the Jagazine! (especially the articles by Amy Zheng, Ellen Wu, Karen Yang, and Joyce Zhu)