Business and marketing teacher, Mary Bachnak, builds connections with students whilst readying them to become the next business professionals.
“I have two different levels of accounting that I teach. I teach Fundamental Accounting and Advanced Accounting, and I teach Marketing Fundamentals and I teach Digital Marketing. And then, of course, with Business Professionals of America. So I feel like my role is in teaching these concepts to my students, that I’m preparing them for college and careers, and doing the same thing then with my business professionals in South America group,” Bachnak said.
Bachnak came to teach at CPHS after previously teaching at Whiting. Bachnak heard from one of the schools that she was applying to that Crown Point was hiring.
“I contacted Crown Point, and the principal who interviewed me said, ‘Well, we have already interviewed a bunch of people, but if you can come in tomorrow at one o’clock, we’ll interview you.’ So I came in that day at one o’clock. He called me on Monday and said, How would you like to be a bulldog?”
Trying to be the best teacher one can be can be a lot, but Bachnak manages it by taking it one day at a time. Along with teaching, Bachnak also acts as the school’s sponsor for BPA.
“Crown Point didn’t have a BPA, so I knew that it was such a fantastic club. Yeah, that and because it really is co curricular, because you learn concepts in the class and you use them in BPA. And so I knew that it had to be something that I got started here. And so I’ve been doing it here since for a very long time, and it’s amazing.”
By teaching a co-curricular like this, Bachnak is able to build instill real-world skills in her students that will help them in their future careers.
“We have a terrific culture here at Crown Point High School, from our teachers, our administration through our teaching in our students, and it really is an incredibly special place, you know, having an opportunity to have been somewhere else and now be here,” Bachnak said.
