Mrs. Ulmer: Uplifting Students and Spreading Mariner Spirit

You’ve probably seen Mrs. Ulmer around the school, whether she’s coaching or teaching her math class, she is always trying to help our school and its students.

Teaching

Mrs. Ulmer has been teaching for twenty one years, with twelve of them being right here at JMS!  She didn’t know until college that she wanted to be a teacher, and teaching wasn’t even her first choice. “I have a degree in Business Marketing, but every job I tried wasn’t the right fit, so I decided to try teaching since I was always good at helping other students with their work.” Mrs. Ulmer teaches 7th grade pre-algebra, and has been teaching 7th graders for nineteen years. She believes that you need a certain kind of personality to be able to interact well with students and help contribute to their learning.

Coaching

Mrs. Ulmer coaches both girls’ and boys’ volleyball. She enjoys coaching and helping these students accomplish their goals. She plays a big part in helping students improve and is a big motivator. She finds that with girls volleyball, she doesn’t have to coach as much, and instead takes a step back and lets the girls do their thing. This is similar to girls softball which she coached two years ago. Most of the team was made up of her daughter’s friends, so practices were enjoyable and felt like a hang out. With boys volleyball, it’s a different story. With this team, Mrs. Ulmer gets to play a large part in helping the team improve their skills. She says that, “I really get to help them grow their skills, and get to truly coach.”

The Unknown Side

Mrs. Ulmer does countless things for our school, most of which go unrecognized. For starters, she is the professional development chair person. Which means that she is in charge of teacher training and making sure that it’s efficient and provides teachers useful skills. Mrs. Ulmer is also the 7th grade PLC leader, making her in charge of ensuring that the 7th grade math team meets. There they will talk about data, go over sections they need to go more in depth in, and make sure students are achieving their academic goals. 

Many people do not realize how much teachers do for their students outside of the classroom. Mrs. Ulmer has been a part of many things around the campus, one example being that she keeps track of the points at boys basketball games. She is dedicated to helping our school and says, “Pretty much anything that is on campus I have been involved with at some point in my career.

Everyday Mrs. Ulmer puts in time and effort into her students to help them succeed. So next time you see her in the hallway, say hi and thank her for all that she does for our school.