This school year, Mount Pisgah welcomed Jim Stewart and Lana Garner to the Upper School. Stewart is teaching chemistry, while Garner is teaching Spanish.
Stewart began his teaching career at North Gwinnett High School where he taught for over 30 years. His teaching portfolio includes physical science, biology, chemistry, human anatomy, and he even worked as a media specialist. When given the opportunity to come out of retirement to teach at Pisgah, he “couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
Stewart’s teaching style includes many hands-on activities and labs as he says, “You don’t learn Chemistry by reading or hearing about it – you learn Chemistry by doing it.”
He was inspired to be a teacher because of the many positive influences he had in high school.
“Mrs. Zieker, my high school choir teacher, helped me find my voice both literally and figuratively,” said Stewart. “Mr. Cooper and Dr. Whitten, my high school and college chemistry teachers, created a love of science that I continue to share with my students.”
In addition, Stewart is excited to see his students flourish outside of the classroom and is excited to get to know everyone at Sharptop.
Outside of school, Stewart lives a very exciting life.
“Fun fact, I was a finalist to be on two reality TV shows: Big Brother 3 and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”
Garner comes to Mount Pisgah with over 20 years of teaching experience, including all levels from Spanish 1 to AP Spanish. She went to college to study psychology, but decided to switch to Spanish as “the psychology of language acquisition is extremely mesmerizing.”
Inside the classroom, Garner loves for students to read books in her class library, which contains everything from “Pinkalicious” to “Pride and Prejudice”.
Additionally, as someone who also learned Spanish and experienced all the challenging moments along the way, she relates to students.
“I want to show them that their brains were literally made to learn languages and they can be successful,” said Garner.
Garner lives in Peachtree Corners with her dachshund and husband. In her free time, Garner loves reading, cycling, and learning to crochet.
“I am thankful to the Lord that he led me here and everyday see evidence of the blessings he has for me at this school,” said Garner.
Be sure to introduce yourself to our new teachers and welcome them into the Mount Pisgah community.
