KAREN KOCHENASH SEREMULA

My idea was always to be a nurse.  Two things made me change my mind---a 10th grade assembly about car accidents and "Uncle" Harry Wall, my 10th grade English teacher.  As many of you know, he was one special teacher.  I'll always remember his grammar notebook which we copied daily from the blackboard.  Little did I know that would become an important part of my teaching career.  In 12th grade, I was one of three girls chosen by Mr. Lisetski to work at Miller's Department Store during the Christmas holidays.  It became a five year job for me. Had that not happened, I would not have been able to attend college.  My dad worked at the Dragon Cement Company which meant that he was either working, was laid off, or was on strike.  I also had two much younger sisters.  It was not an easy life.  It was also at Miller's that I met my husband, Roger, who always reminds me that he was my first boss.  We will celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary in July.

I graduated from Kutztown State as an English major, but was hired to teach reading at Northampton Junior High.  I was interviewed by Mr. Berg and Mr. Hankee.  It was quite an experience to work with my former teachers.  Do I have the stories to tell!!!  I also worked with the ninth grade chorus.  I taught reading for six years and then had my two children, and I returned to teach English for the last 30 years of my 36 year career.  This is where Harry Wall's English notebook came into my life again.  My ninth grade gifted students created their own notebook.  I was so thrilled when a former student returned and told me she took her English notebook to college with her and it became her textbook.  I was still a choral assistant - what a change to see students in a "fun" situation.  We took them to many Broadway shows --"Phantom of the Opera," "Cats," "Les Miserables"---to name a few.  For the last seven years of my career, we became a middle school and I really enjoyed that experience.  By that time, some of my former students had become my colleagues.

 

Roger and I have two children--Beth and Mark---who both graduated from NHS.  Beth played field hockey and was Valedictorian of the class of 1992.  She received her Bachelor and Master Degrees from Villanova University.  She is now a biostatistician in King of Prussia.  She gave us our two grand dogs--Great Pyrenees Bartleby and Phineas.  Mark played basketball and graduated in 1994.  He then attended Allentown College, now DeSales University, and achieved a degree in sports management.  He works for the Northampton County Intermediate Unit in the Easton School District where he works with young, troubled students.  He coached girls' basketball at Wilson and he's now coaching the girls at Catasauqua where he and his wife Shannon reside.  She is a third grade teacher at the Arts Academy in Allentown.  On November 28, 2015, they presented us with the love of our life---our granddaughter Jordyn.  Just to see her smile at you when you walk into the room is so special. We have enjoyed watching her learn and grow.  I finally know and understand the love and joy of being a grandparent.

Karen Kochenash Seremula w/granddaughter Jordyn,

son Mark, and daughter Beth

Husband Roger, Karen w/Jordyn, son Mark, daughter Beth

and daughter-in-law, Shannon