Valley Star reporter Dave Favila profiled Ohio University alum Kristen Helmsdoerfer ’14 in a story on “Home for now.”
Helmsdoerfer earned two Ohio University degrees, a B.A. in Spanish from the College of Arts & Sciences and B.A. in English from the Honors Tutorial College.
Ohio is a long way from the Rio Grande Valley, but for Kristen Helmsdoerfer it’s now home for at least the next couple of years.
Helmsdoerfer, a member of Teach for America — an organization that enlists recent college graduates to teach in low-income communities throughout the United States for at least two years — is currently an English as a Second Language teacher at Coakley Middle School.
Helmsdoerfer, who is originally from Westerville, Ohio, moved to Harlingen this June shortly after graduating from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. During the summer months she did some educational training in Houston then returned to the Valley before the school year got underway.
“I teach grades six to eight and I absolutely love it,” she said. “Of course moving to the Valley was quite an adjustment since I was coming from Ohio. But living next to the border while being an ESL teacher is such a unique experience. It’s great and I’m glad to be here for at least the next couple of years.”
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