07.MORE THAN A TEACHER:LISA HARPSTERBY ADRITA TALUKDER & MARISSA XUIt can be hard to think of teachers asanything more than “teachers.” In anormal school year, we’re in and out of theirclassrooms for 90 minutes every other day, andfor many, those 90 minutes are spent staring atthe clock, waiting for the minutes to pass by. Ifthey’re lucky, students get the chance to crack afew jokes with their teachers here and there. Forthe especially fortunate, they get to really talkwith their teachers. Students might share a partof themselves, and in turn, get to know a bitabout their teacher outside of the classroom. Forthose who partake in these conversations, onething is made clear: teachers lead as rich a lifeoutside the classroom as students do. Thiscertainly rings true for Lisa Harpster, an Englishas a Second Language (ESL) teacher who, whenshe’s not in school, is an avid artist and localbusiness owner.Even in high school, Harpster wasimmersing herself in the worlds of art and ESL.If she wasn’t painting, you’d probably find herdancing, and when she had time, she wouldvolunteer in the ESL classroom for extra creditfor her World Cultures class. Her experiences inthe classroom were eye-opening.“I just loved being around people from allover the world, and I think I realized hownarrow my view was, and how small of a town Iwas in when I started to meet more and morepeople from all over the world and all differentcultures,” Harpster said.Harpster carried her experiences from highschool with her, and when she realized shewanted to go back to school after acting in NewYork for a period of time, she had an idea of thepath she wanted to tread.“I loved the ESL classroom and I knew Iloved art, so I knew I wanted to be either an artteacher or an ESL teacher,” Harpster said.Linda Barton, who had been Harpster’sWorld Cultures teacher in high school,introduced her to the Professional DevelopmentSchool (PDS) intern program at Penn State. Itwas Barton’s last year teaching, and afterHarpster finished the program, she filled theposition. She now teaches at State High, andthrough her years of teaching, there have been afew stand out moments that she’ll never forget.“I got this long email from a student and itwent to me and it went to my colleague, AndyWilson, who teaches ESL Social Studies,”
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