The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

Winokur brings new perspective

Winokur is a new teacher in the history department.

By Ellie Smith
Features Editor

During the summer, Laine Winokur can be found in the historical houses of Massachusetts dressed in full colonial attire. Wearing her bonnet and corset, she works as a tour guide at the Lexington Historical Society, learning the interesting historical significance of each house and sharing the information with tourists.

Her knowledge and love for history translates into her new teaching position working in the history department at Westford Academy this year.

Growing up, Winokur attended Wayland High School where she enjoyed playing on the soccer team.

After high school, Winokur attended Mount Holyoke College, a small school located in South Hadley, MA, where she received her bachelor’s degree in history. Though history was her major, Winokur enjoyed taking other classes such as psychology and alternate classes involved in education.

She recalls playing against Westford Academy when she participated in soccer as a teenager and remembered the school when the opportunity to work at WA became available. After meeting some of the faculty and students, she decided to apply and was hired to teach in the history department for her first year as a teacher.

Winokur decided to become a teacher mainly because of her love of history and the enjoyment she receives working with students to master a subject.

“To get ready for teaching, wherever I went with students, I didn’t want to leave the students at the end,” said Winokur. “It kept getting better and better.”

Her love for teaching history is evident in and outside the classroom. She enjoys the challenges that come with connecting pieces of historical information and figuring out how they come together.

“It’s like a giant puzzle and you get to put all of the pieces together to figure out how things work together. You get to understand people and figure out the way that we are,” said Winokur.

Apart from playing soccer non-competitively with friends, Winokur enjoys reading and is self-described as a professional at marathoning television shows on Netflix.

For the upcoming school year, Winokur hopes to first learn all of her students names as well and she is looking forward to showing her love of history to the students and getting them to enjoy the subject as much as she does.

“I hope to help people to appreciate history more, and to also be better writers and thinkers,” said Winokur.

Sophomore Kerry Simpson enjoys Winokur’s history class and feels she will allow her to gain a more positive perspective of the subject of history.

“Although it’s still early in the year, I can tell she’s a great teacher,” said Simpson. “She’s going to make me look at history in a different, more positive way.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All WA Ghostwriter Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *