Wildcat Spotlight: Samantha Cohodas

Physics teacher Samantha Cohodas is a first-year physics teacher at Deep Run. Before teaching here, she was a student teacher in Newport News, Va., being mentored by a physics teacher. Cohodas received her Master of Education at The College of William and Mary. She knew she wanted to teach physics because it teaches people how the real world works, and she has always loved science throughout her school years. 

   Cohodas chose to become a teacher because she has had many good teachers as role models in her life. Her physics teacher inspired her to become a physics teacher because he was a fantastic teacher to her. She also has many family members that are teachers, including her mom. 

    “My mom is also a teacher, and I have several other family members that are teachers, so just seeing them and bouncing ideas off of them has been really helpful for me going into education as well,” Cohodas said.

   Cohodas has enjoyed her teaching experience here far. She finds that the teachers and administration are really supportive. She also appreciates that the students seem to be hard-working and actually try to understand the material rather than just memorize it. However, she does believe that Deep Run is different from other high schools because of student competitiveness. She thinks that many students here have a high need for success which can cause anxiety.

   “In general, I can tell that there is a need and a drive to be successful,” Cohodas said.

   Cohodas hopes that the students in her class will gain more confidence in their scientific abilities and acquire problem-solving skills during their time in her class this year.

   In addition to teaching, Cohodas is the sponsor of the Ramps Club. The club works to raise money to build ramps for people who use wheelchairs or have difficulty walking. She’s enjoying sponsoring the club and is glad to be involved. It has led to positive experiences she has had being able to talk with the students outside of her class and get to know more about their lives outside of school.

   “I like being able to talk to students about what things they do outside of the class or what they find funny and just hearing about their lives in general,” Cohodas said.