A new year at CHS brings with it an onslaught of freshman, new teachers, foreign exchange and transfer students.  This year Mrs. Christina Blaschke will replace Mrs. Deb Steytler, who retired last year, and along with her came some others including Mr. Daniel Chenoweth.  Students likely miss those who left, but the staff gets to grow with the ones they received this year.

Mrs. Blaschke moves into Mr. Erik Hauber’s old room, while he has been switched to Steytler’s room.  The lifelong artist says, “I have been doing art since I could hold a crayon,” and she likes to use metals and paper clay and has always wanted to be a teacher and while away from school she was able to decide what she wanted to do, “Six years of college were worth it,” she said.  She has taught at Kenston and says the only thing different was that “Chardon is a little more laid back, more communal.” Other schools she’s taught at were just for field experience.  When she has time on her hands and feels like there’s nothing else to do she says she makes stuff or looks up new techniques.

She became an art teacher because at Notre Dame. They have this little building for the art students where she liked how removed she felt.  Stephen Gammell, an illustrator for children’s books, is her main inspiration and he inspires her because of the way he handles his pencils and charcoal. He makes it look very haunting.  She feels like she has connected to her students so far this year and she likes showing us that art is something you can make a living out of now and the works of current artist. “There’s this kind of big resurgence of careers in art.”   Mrs. Blaschke hopes to teach her classes many things this year, and her students in the future are going to learn a lot from this laid back teacher.

Another new staff member, Mr. Chenoweth, teaches Geometry.  He grew up in Geauga county and has always thought that Chardon is a nice area.  He is greatly impressed by the positive enviroment the staff of Chardon High have created, and he felt very welcomed here.  When he was in high school, his teachers and coaches helped him to become who he is today and he wanted to have the same impact on others.  He says that he was a natural at math so it made sense to go into the course.  He taught at Middlefield’s high school, Cardinal, for ten years, which was also the school he had graduated from. Mr. Chenoweth enjoys the constructive and useful impact his teaching has on others and when the graduates come back to talk to him and share their accomplishments.  He is very concrete in his belief that his students will do good this year and enthusiastic to see what they will learn.

He’s very passionate about helping others and thinks of himself as a person who can be easily approached.  “I will go out of my way to help my students to succeed,” so students he encourages you to ask questions.  Whenever he has any spare time he enjoys the outdoors and goes to sporting events.