Many Bulldogs, whether they have taken Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology or Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), recognize Ms. Christy Koenig as a teacher whose students are always eager to come into her class and engage in learning.
“Her classroom is very lively and she’s always energetic when we come in and when we’re ever doing work. If you need help on anything, she’ll gladly come up and help you out with stuff,” said Jacob Romero (12).
Koenig is currently the AVID coordinator and teacher for grades 11 and 12 and an AP Psychology teacher. Many of her students come in to learn a variety of interesting things about psychology, with an element of entertainment to catch the students’ attention.
“I would say the atmosphere of this class is really chill and laid back,” said Andrew Rufatt (11). “She makes all the lessons fun and exciting.”
Koenig’s path to being a teacher at Ayala was conveniently shaped growing up as some of the people she knew were once in classrooms teaching students. This was Koenig’s inspiration for pursuing teaching, specifically in the field of psychology.
“Initially, my mom inspired me to be a teacher because she was an elementary school teacher,” Koenig said. “My high school psychology teacher, Mr. Vanneman, is the one that inspired me to get into psychology and study it in college.”
Koenig started her journey teaching Health, and later on, got the green light to teach Psychology. Along the way, she also picked up AVID. Being a high school teacher, there were some challenges that Koenig noticed grow throughout the years–especially distractions among the students with the technology becoming increasingly prevalent.
“The past few years, phones have been a major challenge,” said Koenig. “Students are addicted to their phones, so it’s very hard to keep the kids’attention because they’re just constantly wanting to check their phone and text on their phone and be on their phone.”
Despite that, Koenig loves to interact with her students in many of her classes and even encourages the students to use psychology to help with studying. Mnemonics, a short phrase to help remember something, is a specialty in her class, and the variety of different things that Koenig asks her students to explore is often best memorized using the psychology trick.
“It’s just interacting with the students, seeing light bulbs come off when they make connections, when they come up with clever mnemonics,” said Koenig. “They want to learn things for the sake of learning, and not always just to get a passing grade, so I really appreciate those students.”
Alongside teaching AVID, many of Koenig’s students enjoy coming into the class as her ability to help with college preparation is greatly beneficial. She offers a helping hand to many students who are in need of advice concerning college applications.
“I see other people coming up to her and asking for help with any colleges that they’re looking to apply to,” said Romero. “So if you’re not even in [AVID], she’ll still help you out with colleges and the application.”
Koenig is one of the teachers that makes learning fun and cherishable. The students in her class feel comfortable and relaxed learning in class, despite the course being college level. Her personality is appreciated by many, and no matter the mood they are in or the day they had, students leave Koenig’s classroom with a smile on their face.
“She’s a really nice teacher,” said Rufatt. “She’s really kind and friendly.”
