Sunday, August 16, 2009

Jane Szerba - New to Chets!

Jane Szerba will be joining Chets Creek this coming school year as a 5th Grade ELA teacher. She has taught 2nd and 3rd grade for the past two years. Prior to her full time teaching position, Jane was a safety net provider for three years. Since 1996 she has been involved with her children’s schools in many different capacities. Jane feels extremely privileged to become a member of Chets Creek Elementary.

Jane grew up in Reading Pennsylvania and graduated from Kutztown University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. In 1988 she married her high school sweetheart, Jim, at the United States Naval Academy. Jim and Jane headed south to Pensacola for Jim’s first naval assignment, Navy Flight School. After several years of deployments and military moves up and down the east coast, the Szerba’s settled in Jacksonville. Jim has served in the Navy for over 22 years and has been blessed to be stationed here at Mayport for the past several years.

Jane and Jim have three daughters. Margaret is currently a sophomore at the University of North Florida, Ashley is a senior at Fletcher High School, and their youngest daughter is a freshman, also at Fletcher High School. Over the course of her daughter’s lives, Jane has enjoyed watching her daughters grow and mature. She especially has enjoyed their swimming and watching them play Florida’s newest sport, girl’s lacrosse.

In her spare time Jane enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling, and visiting her family up north. Jane has always been involved with swimming and currently teaches swimming lessons to the neighborhood children during the summer. She receives immense satisfaction when a four year old child realizes that she can swim. Jane has also been a Pace Leader for the Chicago Marathon. You may ask, “What is a Pace Leader?” A Pace Leader is a designated runner that guarantees to finish the marathon (26.2 miles) in a specific pace. For example, if you want to finish the marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes you would sign up to run with the 4:30 pace team. The pace leader will run a steady pace for the entire race and finish within a minute of that designated pace. She mentioned that it is a very rewarding and an emotional job, especially to help someone complete their first marathon. Jane truly enjoyed this experience from 2004-2007 and hopes to get back in shape sometime soon!

Jane is enthusiastic about the 2009-2010 school year. She is looking forward to forming new relationships, working with a talented team of teachers, and also meeting the amazing students at Chets Creek. What a blessing to have Jane joining our Chets Creek family!

10 comments:

Sherrie Rabe said...

Jane,
Welcome to CCE!! You are such a blessing to have on our 5th grade team. I look forward to a grand year!
Sherrie

Mrs. Metzger and Mrs. Morris said...

Wow! I am so impressed. I never knew what a pace leader was! You seemed to enjoy yourself at our first day back celebration. Especially at the quick thinking performance of new teachers! Welcome to Chets Creek!

Lori Metzger

Anonymous said...

WELCOME, JANE!!

There's another swimmer in our midst!!

Dee Dee Tamburrino
CCE Music

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jane!

I'm so excited to have a fellow Navy wife here at Chet's Creek! I look forward to getting to know you better. See ya around the Creek!

Laura Edwards

Mrs. Lauren Skipper said...

Welcome Jane! I know you're gonna love it here!

Jenny Nash said...

Welcome, Jane! I might need to have a pow wow with you in the future. I've got two daughters, too. Having had no sisters, this little relationship is a little foreign to me! ...and drama abounds in our home, to say the least! Any great parenting tips for parents of multiple daughters???

Melanie Holtsman said...

Everyone may not know, but you were my safety net teacher for my third grade class when I worked at Alimacani so I was SO HAPPY to learn you were joining us at the Creek!! Welcome Jane! I can tell already that you'll fit right in. Your Soul Train moves were out of sight! :)

Chascinc said...

How great was it to walk into the front office and see a familiar face? I am so happy that you are teaching here at the Creek! You were fabulous at orientation on Friday. Every student walked out of your class with a smile on their face!

KK Cherney said...

I am so excited about you being a part of our team. If you need anything "super woman" let us know.

Michelle Ellis & Debby Cothern said...

I am so glad you are here! After hearing Christine talk about you for years, I am looking forward to getting to know you better.