Meet Ms. Gaska

Have you ever wondered who is in charge of how your class goes in Math, English Science or History?  Mrs. Gaska is one of the new Strategic Learning Specialists that have been brought in by Frank Sinatra to make sure we get the most out of our classes. You might recognize the name Gaska as the last name of Mrs. Gaska’s daughter, Meghan, who attended the school two years ago. Mrs. Gaska was also on Sinatra’s PTA.

Currently Mrs. Gaska helps Mrs. Ruiz and Dr. McNeil create strategies to differentiate the lessons so that they may give us the best way to soak up the information. Before Mrs. Gaska came to Sinatra, she was teaching science at Martin Van Buren High School. Mrs. Gaska didn’t always know she wanted to be a teacher.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a teacher. I worked as a customer service agent at the Trans World Airline, and then I pursued banking. It wasn’t until a friend told me I should try it and try to get a sublicense and so I did. Then I went to work at an elementary school as a teacher and I really liked it and then I got my masters in English and worked at Martin Van Buren for seven years,” she explained smiling.

Mrs. Gaska admits that her father is her inspiration for pursuing teaching. “He used to tell me all the time, because he was from Czechoslovakia, a teacher is a great job for a woman. You should be a teacher and so I did become one,” she says.

Although Mrs. Gaska works around a lot of people who are influenced by their major, she doesn’t consider herself very talented.

“I have no talent. I can barely draw a stick figure. I can play a little tennis, but I told the kids from day one, I am here to do a different job and I have no talent,” she laughed. “I always had a dream to be a singer. I wanted to be a vocal major. I cannot carry a note for my life, but I would have definitely been a vocal major if I went here.”

Ms. Gaska definitely has a lot of experience to share with the kids at Frank Sinatra. So, the next time you’re in Mrs. Ruiz’s or Dr. McNeil’s classroom, make sure to say thank you to Ms. Gaska.

by Carolina Campero ’14

Photo: Alex Gross  ’14