August 16, 2024

Name: Curt Zimmermann           

Family: Wife, Brenda; son, Carl  

School: Hughson Elementary School       

Position: Special day class (SDC) teacher

Experience and education: One year of teaching experience. Substitute teacher for five years. Degrees from  Biola University and UMass Global (Brandman) University.

What attracted you to Hughson? I worked as a substitute teacher in the HUSD and enjoyed the students, teachers and administrators I interacted with. When working in other districts, teachers had nice things to say about HUSD.

What most inspires you about what you do? The “ah-hah!” moment when a student realizes that they understand a concept we’ve been working on and they’ve said over and over again, “I’ll never get this.”

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? Getting to know each student and finding out how to reach them.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? I like to use songs or sayings that trigger a response from the students.            

What do you want your students to remember? I want my students to remember how good it feels when they learn something new. I want them to remember that they went from, “I can’t do that yet!” to “I know how to do that now!”

How can parents support what you do? Parents can support me by continuing to interact with their student, reading or doing work at home in a fun environment. Informing me of something out of the ordinary that may be affecting their student. Responding to notes sent home. Letting me know about concerns or comments and not letting things build up.

What would surprise people about your job? How much fun my kids are and how tired I am at the end of the week!

What do you do for fun? We go to church as a family. I have a Bible study group on Saturday I enjoy. I like baseball and football, on TV or in person. I blew out my knee playing soccer with eighth-graders two years ago, so I’m just a sports fan now! I like to walk around my neighborhood and feel happy to live in the Central Valley!