I have had Mr. Smolinski as a teacher for two of the three years that he taught at Manogue, and when I learned that the Miner Detail would be starting our Meet the Miners series, I immediately thought that he would be the perfect subject to interview. I decided to meet with him on January 23rd after school, in B102 to conduct this interview. After helping one of his Algebra 1 students find a worksheet and one of his AP Computer Science Principles finish a test, we were able to talk.
We started by discussing his life and upbringing: Mr. Smolinski was born in Southern California, and grew up as an only child, attending Catholic school during his elementary years. He attended numerous colleges, including Cal-Poly Pomona, which he graduated from in 2016, and is currently seeking further education at UNR.
Mr. Smolinski believes that being an only child has shaped him into an independent person. He also gives credit to his Catholic upbringing, which has had a direct impact on his life as it is the reason he teaches at Manogue today, and also the context for meeting his wife. He is happily married with one daughter and another child on the way. At this moment, Mr. Smolinski’s life is “the grind.” As of a few weeks ago, his final UNR semester commenced, making his day to day life very busy. Mr. Smolinski said that he sometimes finds it tough to balance family, his education, and his job, but he manages to make it work.
When asked about his hobbies and what he likes to do in his free time, Mr. Smolinski said with a laugh “What free time?” He enjoys hanging out with his wife and daughter whenever possible and particularly enjoys taking them, along with his dog, to the park. Aside from that, Mr. Smolinski enjoys reading, and is an avid video gamer, which I respect with every fiber of my being.
I learned that Mr. Smolinski was part of the drumline when he was in high school and that music is something he has remained passionate about since. He likes “pretty much every type of rock” including all the subgenres, and I can attest to the music he sometimes plays during class, it is very good. Mr. Smolinski dislikes rap which he considers too repetitive and similar between various artists and songs, as opposed to rock which he prefers because he considers it music that makes you think.
One thing that I was really hoping to learn about Mr. Smolinski was his opinions on the “migratory teachers” – as I call them. For context, there are a handful of teachers at Manogue that move around throughout the day to accommodate Manogue’s oversaturated student body. Using this model, one classroom can host different teachers and different classes throughout the day as needed. Mr. Smolinski is one of these teachers as he has three separate classrooms that he visits throughout the day. The first of these, his “home classroom” is B102, in the Foreign Language Hallway. Mr. Smolinski considers this to be “his room” where he is most productive and he spends five of his eight periods here. Additionally, he teaches AP CompSci Principles and AP CompSci A in B114, where I have taken his classes in the past, and finally, he sometimes moves to the foreign language prep room for one of his prep periods.
Mr. Smolinski says that “all teachers would rather have their own space” but understands why Manogue uses this system and doesn’t mind having to move between classes. He considers it an efficient use of space, as B114 is uniquely suited to host a different type of class than B102 is. He enjoys all his “neighbors” and has made friends in both the religion and foreign language departments.
His only major complaint lies in the difficulties that arise from having to move between classes at the same time as students. As anyone at Manogue would know, navigating the hallways is challenging, and mobs of students stopped in the middle of the hallway doesn’t make it any easier.
Mr. Smolinski is one of my favorite teachers and brings a chill and professional air to the classes that I have had with him. As one of the Manogue’s migratory teachers, I think he poses as a unique example of ingenuity and success. My interview ended on a friendly note that I don’t think I will be able to accurately capture in this article so I will leave off with this: a fun fact about Mr. Smolinski, he had 7 teeth pulled at one time!!
