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Mrs. Nuke Knows Lots of Important Stuff...

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 02:00

Going Off Course - Woodbury triathlete Kathy Newcomb used to "take it to the hole."

Huh?

In the 80s, the statuesque Ms. Newcomb, who had a different last name back then, played for the University of St. Thomas' high-flying women's basketball team. In addition to having a sweet jumper, Kathy also liked to drive to the basket, i.e. "taking it to the hole," where she often made the lay-up and got fouled in the process. She was a good free-throw shooter.

A gifted athlete (she also was on the Tommie's track and cross country teams), she was, however, even more gifted at academic stuff, thus she eschewed an WNBA career to become a teacher. For the past 21 years she's imparted her estimable pedagogical gifts to high school students in the Twin Cities metro area....

Kathy, who is very pretty and has totally cool reddish-brown spiky hair and a sleeveless denim vest, teaches Social Studies, which is the most vague subject in any school's curriculum. "Social Studies" is a concept which derives from the ancient Greek word "socialopoulus," meaning "stuff about people," and "studiopoulus," which means "stuff from books."

How general is that! Actually, most scholars think of social studies as an integrated interdisciplinary sort of deal, not simply a general grouping of a whole bunch of academic stuff.

Still, it seems to us that Kathy should get more money for being a social studies teacher than just a regular, say math, teacher because she has to know stuff about a wide range of topics, like geography, civics (does anyone really know what civics are?), political science, anthropology, history, dating and acne.

Mrs. Nuke, as she is affectionately referred to by her students, knows more about social studies than just about anybody. She can recites all 40 of the U.S. state capitals from memory. She can accurately pronounce "australopithicus," and knows that Chad is somewhere in Africa. And most impressively, she kinda understands how the Electoral College works and why Al Gore didn't become President in 2000.

Pretty impressive, huh.

Kathy is not only a gifted teacher and a pretty darned good triathlete, she is also a great sport for allowing us to do this silly-fied feature on her. She likes the Bee Gees, especially their early stuff, not the disco crap they did in the late 70s, and Bruce Springsteen. And she loves spaghetti and meatballs and walleye and thinks that rodents make good pets.

Here's more stuff about this remarkable person:

Hey MTN Guys - My story is that of a pretty regular Minnesota gal, but here goes.....

Hometown: I was born and raised in Bloomington, MN. I have lived in Woodbury, MN for the past 15 years.

Education: B.A. (Psychology with a minor in Journalism) from the University of St. Thomas

M.A. (Teacher Education) from the University of St. Thomas (HS graduation photo R)

Note: I was a three-sport athlete at St. Thomas competing in cross-country, basketball, and track. 25 years ago (in 1986) both the women's and men's cross country teams at St. Thomas won the Division III National Title...That was pretty special!

Occupation: I am in my 21st year of teaching Social Studies, currently at East Ridge High School in the South Washington County Schools. On a side note, Walter and I were both hired by the district in 1993 and got married in 1995. I guess they hired two people who worked well together!

Married? Family Members?: Supportive and Loving Husband of 16 years (Walter); Terrific Kids: Ben (12) and Maggie (8)

Pets: The Newcomb family has two rodents..... A Guinea Pig (Oreo - photo L) and a Gerbil (Lightening)

Things that bug me: disorganization and lack of preparation, students that "whine", abuse/overuse of electronic devices......

TV Shows: I really do not watch much TV. If I do, it is typically sports related or something that my children are watching.

Movies: From a historical perpsective, I enjoy Dances with Wolves. From a cartoon angle, Cars was a favorite of mine.

Actors: John Travolta and Johnny Depp

Singers/Bands: Pretty much anything.....For comfort tunes I would choose the BeeGees and Bruce Springsteen.

Songs: Born to Run, The Final Countdown, Eye of the Tiger

Restaurants: Axels and The Dock (Stillwater)

Ice Cream: DQ treats are tasty on a hot summer night

Junk Food: Nibs Candy (Cherry Bits) and Pringles Potato Chips

Crunchy Food: Raw Veggies

Meal: Spaghetti and Meatballs, a nice walley dinner (which you can get at Axels and The Dock)

Sports Teams: MN Twins (Growing up in Bloomington gave me the opportunity to see many games at the Met Stadium), UMN Gopher Basketball

Hobbies: Triathlon training and racing fills up my schedule and define much of what I do. Besides that, I enjoy gardening, attending my kids sporting events and being a good consumer (shopping)!

Heroes: I've always looked to my parents for guidance. They both taught in the Bloomington Public Schols for more than 30 years.

Other: I once completed a triathlon called "The Popcorn Man" in which the participants biked on gravel/dirt roads, ran 5 miles, and then tubed down the Apple River. That was in the 1980s sometime when my passion for triathlon was igninted while lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons at the Southdale YMCA.

Kathy Newcomb (Mrs. Nuke, as my students call me)

Cool Photo