This year, Novi High School welcomed 13 new staff members, 8 of whom are teachers.
Adriana Kamoo, Spanish teacher, originally graduated in Mexico City with a bachelor’s in business administration and a minor in human resources. When she came to the United States in 2002, she switched careers and started teaching Spanish for after-school programs in Birmingham and other school districts. In 2013, she applied to the West Bloomfield school district to work as a paraprofessional. Kamoo worked as a paraprofessional for 10 years, while taking care of her three children and attending classes at Oakland University to obtain her master’s degree in secondary education and a certification to teach Spanish.
Kamoo says the beginning of her time at Novi has been very fast-paced, but she has felt very supported by staff and administrators.
“I heard some other teachers say Novi is the place to go because the staff is phenomenal. They are very nice. I’ve always heard very good things about Novi,” Kamoo said. “I have very motivated minds in my classroom.”
Kamoo hopes to stay in Novi for as long as she can.
“I would like to grow with this community,” Kamoo said. “I would like to stay here for all the years that I have to teach Spanish. My hope is to, in five years for example, teach a different level of Spanish and finish my career here and retire from Novi.”
Nicole Mackinder is another new Spanish teacher. Before coming to Novi, she taught at Marysville Public Schools for six years and Bloomfield Hills schools for 11. Her first year at Novi is her 18th year of teaching.
Spanish interested Mackinder due to the vacations her family took to Acapulco, Mexico while she was growing up.
“When we traveled, I really enjoyed speaking to people there,” Mackinder said. “I thought it was really cool how I could help my family get around because of my Spanish and that just became a passion for me.”
Despite her extensive history with Spanish and teaching, Mackinder admits that the first few weeks of her school year have been challenging.
“You know, even though I’ve been teaching for a lot of years, it’s a new curriculum,” Mackinder said. “So there’s a lot to learn as far as how they do things here and how I can adapt current methods and strategies I’ve always used to the current curriculum.”
Mackinder expressed a similar sentiment as Kamoo on the determination she’s seen in her students since beginning teaching at Novi.
“I’ve been really impressed by the students, how seriously they take school, and kids do in Bloomfield Hills too, but I’m just really just impressed by how they care about their grades, they care about their learning, and they’re just really nice people,” Mackinder said.
Mackinder was drawn to Novi because she wanted to be closer to her kids (and the infamous I-696 traffic).
“We’ve lived in the Village Oaks neighborhood since 2012. I’ve been commuting to Bloomfield Hills for 11 years and it’s been challenging, so I thought working somewhere that my kids went to school would be really awesome,” Mackinder said. “Both of my kids are younger, so I’ll be with them once they get to high school. I can pick them up from their schools if I need to at the bus stop. It’s been a real lifestyle change.”
As for her future, Mackinder sees herself staying in the classroom with students.
“I’ve always left myself open to the possibility of getting more education. I have a master’s degree. But you know, we’ll see if in the future I think that I want to do something different but as of right now, my aspirations are just to stay a Spanish teacher,” Mackinder said. “I teach Spanish for a reason. I’ve done it for a long time, and I like being in the classroom with the students. I feel like there’s plenty of new learning I can do here to keep this job very exciting for a long time.”
Olivia Jones is the new self-contained special education teacher. She graduated in April of 2022, and started her career at Village Oaks’s self-contained department. This is her second year teaching.
Jones went to South Lyon High School, where she participated in their peer-to-peer program.
“I just fell in love with the program. I fell in love with the students,” Jones said. “So I went to school, to Eastern, and I got my degree in CI (cognitive impairment) and EI (emotional impairment).”
Jones completed her student teaching at Northville High School, which is what led her to Novi High School.
“When we played in the Novi-Northville unified game, I got to meet some of the Novi coaches. I found out that there was an open position here so I applied and I’ve just kind of been here ever since,” Jones said. “They have a really good special ed program here. We’re known around the state for how good our special ed department is so that’s what drew me here.”
Jones says she sees herself staying at Novi for a long time.
“I know a lot of teachers say that but I really like the students. I like the program. I like being at a high school level,” Jones said. “I like being involved in more than just the classroom and getting the students out into the community. That’s my biggest aspiration this school year – is to get the students out in the community to learn life skills that they can use further down the road, such as going to a grocery store and buying items that they need to cook and then cooking those items.”
Ritsuko Shudo, Japanese teacher, received her bachelor’s from Gunma Women’s University and her master’s in education from Tamagawa University Graduate School. She has also received her IB advanced certificate in teaching and learning research from Tamagawa University and Japanese pedagogy certificate from University of Michigan.
She has taught AP and IB Japanese and Japanese literature courses, as well as being a teaching assistant at Michigan State University’s Gifted and Talented Education (G.A.T.E.) program.
Shudo used to live in Novi, which drew her back to the community when considering teaching opportunities.
“I know this community is the best place to teach and learn as a teacher,” Shudo said.
Shudo hopes to support her students in their learning process.
“My interest is ‘What is the most effective formative assessment for second language learners and how can I support my students’ improvements?’” Shudo said.
In her time teaching at Novi, she has found students to be enthusiastic, polite, and eager to learn new things.
Tyler Troyer, history and psychology teacher, majored in history and minored in psychology and math at the University of Michigan Dearborn. This is his first year teaching.
“I’ve always had a knack for social studies and history. I’ve always kind of been a little nerdy in that aspect, always interested in history, watching documentaries, all that kind of stuff,” Troyer said. “Psychology was a really recent interest for me. I took an AP Psychology class in high school, and it was really, really interesting, a lot of fun stuff. And that’s why I just decided to kinda add it to my minor in college. It was kind of a growing subject at the time when I took it. So I figured hopefully, more schools offer psychology and luckily Novi does.”
Troyer is the varsity receiver coach at Northville High School, where he went to high school and completed his student teaching.
“I’m Northville at heart. So it’s been a little tough transition to Novi, but I’m starting to get a little more acclimated,” Troyer said. “I think, right now, I’m still a little indifferent if Northville was playing Novi, but you know, I love it here. It’s absolutely awesome. So it’s fun to be a part of both for sure.”
Despite growing up in Novi’s rival city, Troyer says that Novi has been very inviting to him.
“Being a first-year teacher is definitely a little stressful, a lot of stuff kind of getting thrown in your face. But, the teachers have been super, super helpful. The kids have honestly been really great. Everyone’s been really supportive,” Troyer said. “I think after that first week, everything kind of started slowing down a little bit. It’s gone pretty smooth.”
Troyer hopes to continue building connections with his students and community throughout his career.
“I just want to leave a positive impact on everyone I kind of build connections with here, and I’m already starting to see that with a lot of the students, a lot of the teachers, and it’s been really awesome to see,” Troyer said. “I know it’s only the first month but that’s what you do it for. It’s what you teach for. You teach for those relationships and to build those bonds and put people on the right path and leave that positive impact on them. A few years down the road, if I’m still here, I hope some of my old students come back and see me because that’s really what it’s all about- seeing how they’re doing in their future life down the road.”
Be sure to welcome our new teachers when you see them!
