Sharon Schwinger is a Foods & Nutrition teacher at Leesville Road High School. Schwinger has been teaching at Leesville for the past five years, but her knowledge of nutrition extends far beyond the years she has spent at Leesville.
“My entire career has been in food service. I’ve been a dietitian for over thirty years,” said Schwinger. “I’m just a food related person, and I love teaching, so this job just fits right in. I love everything about it.”
Schwinger teaches both Foods & Nutrition I and Foods & Nutrition II. The Foods classes are among the most popular electives at Leeville. Students are taught about safety, technique, and nutrition as it relates to cooking and preparing food.
“I love teaching Foods and think Foods is the best class here,” said Schwinger. “I love it because you have to eat everyday, and I love watching the kid who doesn’t have confidence at the beginning not needing a recipe at the end.”
“She is very caring, very nurturing…,” said Tiffany Kennedy, Child Development and Early Developement teacher and classroom neighbor with Schwinger. “She is an absolute wonderful people to be beside, we vibe well together. It’s nice when you have a person who you can relate to.”
While Schwinger is admired by her peers, she is also held equally high by her students.
“She’s amazing,” said Alexandra Buenaventura, senior. “She has an outstanding personality, and she’s always knows exactly what to say. I had her freshman year, and too this day…I still go to her for everything; she is my go-to.”
“She is a great teacher, she taught me a lt of things about food, food safety, and how food impacts our bodies,” said Kristina Diaz, senior who had Schwinger for Foods I as a junior.
Clubs
Besides her position as a teacher, Schwinger is the supervisor of two clubs at Leesville that were founded this school year: Earth & Sustainability Club and Jewish Heritage Club.
Earth & Sustainability Club taps into Schwinger’s passion for gardening. Schwinger keeps dozens of plants in her classroom, and also values sustainability. Known to keep scraps of vegetables to re-grow in her classroom garden and compost all of the egg shells used by her Foods students, Earth & Sustainability Club was a perfect match for Schwinger.
[Earth & Sustainability Club] has the potential to make a huge difference…not just with how physically attractive the school could look, but also by learning how to grow vegetables and other important skills,” said Schwinger.
“I want it [the school] to be pretty, but I also want the club to learn and connect to other kids that have similar interests.”
On the other hand, Jewish Heritage Club meets once a month to celebrate Jewish culture and heritage. Founded by Shir Inbari, sophomore, the new club has attracted countless members throughout the year and created a safe community for Jewish students at Leesville.
“I asked Mrs. Schwinger to be the advisor of my club because I know she is Jewish, so I thought she would be a good fit,” said Inbari. “She’s very active in my community and in my temple.”
“She’s been super helpful, she always gives us suggestions and ideas about what to do with our club, and is always willing to help us when we need materials,” Inbari said.
“Jewish Heritage Club is a great club, I would like to see it expand…I think it’s very important for people to be with people that are similar to them, as well as other people,” said Schwinger. “I think because we are such a tiny minority, it’s nice to have a connection with other, similar people in the school.”
Beekeeping
One of Schwinger’s most unique hobbies is beekeeping. Beekeeping is a hobby that Schwinger picked up on her own, and has been doing for the past three years.
“When I turned fifty, I was like ‘I think I should be a beekeeper!”’ said Schwinger. “I went to get all of my supplies and some bees, and now this is my third year of beekeeping.”
Schwinger incorporates her knowledge of bees and honey into her lessons and educates students about the importance of bees to the environment.
“I just think it’s super important,” said Schwinger. “If you do not have bees, you do not have food. I don’t think people understand that connection that bees have to the Earth and to other animals.
Hi, I’m Clara. I’m a co-founder of Leesville’s Earth & Sustainability Club and a Varsity member of the Track & Field team.