Introducing Ms. Muenzer
Kristi Muenzer originally had aspirations to become a math teacher but her plans changed after taking pre-calculus while attending Alfreda High School in Fulton County.
During her junior year in high school she discovered her love for history, thanks to her U.S. History teacher Kurt Davies. She credits him with influencing her to become a social studies teacher.
¨He never gave up on me, even when I struggled to grasp certain concepts. His kindness and passion for the subject inspired me to pursue a career in teaching,” Muenzer said.
This interest led Muenzer to enroll at the University of North Georgia, majoring in social studies education in the spring of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her studies transitioned to online schooling for the remainder of the semester and the following fall semester. Eventually, she transferred to the University of Georgia.
During the spring of 2023, Muenzer started student teaching at Cedar Shoals with her mentor, social studies department chair Beth Mendenhall. She learned a variety of teaching methods, discovering that there are many ways to teach instead of only approaching students with one method. After student teaching with Mendenhall, Muenzer’s passion for teaching grew deeper as she built relationships with students and watched them grow academically.
“The kids that I had during my student teaching, they were amazing, and I miss them so much. There’s just something about the first students you have, those are like my kids. I really fell in love with it. I enjoyed working with the students, and I loved the environment. Everyone was very welcoming,” Muenezer said.
In the spring of 2024, Muenzer graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s in social studies education. She is currently in the social studies master’s program.
NEW TEACHER: American Government teacher Kristi Muenzer poses for a portrait. Muenzer specializes in American Government; Her goal is to be more understanding of her students’ passions. “It’s really important to find things that are interesting to them, so that way they want to learn more,” Muenzer said.
In the classroom, Muenzer enjoys when students find concepts interesting in her class. One lesson students found interesting was the Bill of Rights, where students continued to talk about freedom of speech resulting in them reviewing national and local events such as recent protests at the UGA Arch.
“Ms. Muenzer is kind, I find learning about the amendments interesting in her class,” Eduardo Lopez said.
Additionally, Muenzer ensures to elaborate on topics so she can have a deeper understanding of what her students find interesting. She believes that the American Government class relates closely to students’ lives through education policies, student rights and civic engagement. Therefore, her goal is to learn more about her students, their passions and what is important to them.
“Ms. Muenzer was really good at building relationships with students. She knew all their names off the bat, and worked hard on getting to know the students and taking interest in them. She tried a lot of good strategies and was good at using engaging techniques. We did a lot of discussions and debates, which I think students really enjoyed. It’s always interesting to see what students have to say, and I know Ms. Muenzer really valued their opinions,” Mendenhall said.
