By Maggie Dale

Mrs. Caitlin Bienemann:

Q: What do you like about Mount Vernon?

A: The students are so nice. I love the town and how welcoming it’s been.  I graduated from Mount Vernon in ’04, so I’m happy to be back.

Q: Tell us something we don’t know about you?

A: I’m good at juggling!

Q: Describe a teacher who inspires you?

A: My high school math teacher, Mr. Craig, and English teacher Mrs. Richardson.  They both pushed me farther than what I thought  was capable.  They provided students with the right balance of support and struggle.

Q: Tell us about your family?

A: My husband is Jared. We have a 3 year old named Emmalin and a 7 month old named Niles. I also have an Olde English Bulldog named Gronk. My mom is Mrs. Wieseler in the main office.

Q: What are the classes you teach?

A: Geometry and Calculus

Q: When did you know you wanted to be a teacher and why?

A: When I was a senior in high school I decided I liked the challenge of math and I wanted others to learn and enjoy the challenges of math.

Mr. Matthew Browning:

Q: What do you like about Mount Vernon?

A: I like the size of the school, and I really appreciate that it’s really academically rigorous. I love the community.

Q: Tell us something we don’t know about you.

A: I went to my sophomore homecoming with my wife. I also had a short collection of poetry published four or five years ago.

Q: Describe a teacher who inspires you.

A: One teacher I loved was Mrs. Smith at City High in Iowa City. She believed her students were really thoughtful and insightful, and gave them the chance to be thoughtful and insightful.

Q: Tell us about your family.

A: I don’t have any kids, it’s just Brooke (my wife) and me. We have two miniature Schnauzers. One is named Gatsby, after The Great Gatsby, and the other is Charlotte, after Charlotte’s Web.

Q: What are the classes you teach?

A: English 1, Honors Comp, Film As Lit, and Contemporary Lit.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be a teacher and why?

A: I fought against being a teacher for a long time. I went to the University of Iowa and applied once to the College of Education and didn’t get in. I decided this meant I wasn’t meant to be a teacher, so I just got an English and Communications degree. During grad school I taught at Western Michigan University, and through that realized I wanted to be a teacher. I went back and got my teacher certification so I could teach high school English.

Mr. Preston Pedersen:

Q: What do you like about Mount Vernon?

A: I like how welcoming everyone has been. The people here are very helpful and are very passionate.

Q: Tell us something we don’t know about you.

A: I like to snow ski any chance I get.

Q: Describe a teacher who inspires you.

A: A teacher that inspired me was my high school chemistry teacher. His knowledge base of his material was amazing, but what was more amazing was his ability to teach us that information in a memorable way. His passion to teach and help students is something that I will always remember.

Q: Tell us about your family.

A: My wife, Emily, and I have been married a little over a year. She is finishing up nursing school this fall and is also a photographer. We are both from Leon, Iowa, a small town in South Central Iowa. My mom is an art teacher and my dad teaches middle school and freshman science. I have two younger brothers, one is a freshman in college and the other is a freshman in high school.

Q: What are the classes you teach?

A: I am the Performance P.E. teacher.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be a teacher and why?

A: I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in college and got to work with a few different elementary and high school classes and later it was solidified when I student taught. I wanted to become a teacher because I wanted to impact the students in a positive way that would help them for the rest of their lives.