Interview #1 : Mr. Gerrit Kischner

French philosopher and writer Marcel Proust was known for his witty answers to a series of intriguing questions, now known as the Proust Questionnaire. To learn more about our teachers in a unique way, the TC 5th graders took on the challenge of creating their own set of interview questions.

For this issue we had the honor of interviewing our new principal, Mr. Gerrit Kischner. 

Background
Mr. Kischner grew up in Seattle and went to Garfield High School, then in college he majored in Political Science. He and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters, Caetana and Aria, who are both in college. And they have a dog, Ivy, who is a sister of Tammi Mack’s dog, Splash!

Mr. Kischner likes to do many things like wandering in forests and playing ultimate frisbee. He favorite book is James and the Giant Peach, and his favorite movie is Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. His secret talent is baking bread and he loves to eat Brazilian Feijoada, especially with collard greens. 

Mr. Kischner loves his job and hopes that he can be the principal of Thornton Creek for as long as we need him! Welcome to Thornton Creek, Mr. Kischner! We need you! Thank you for the wonderful interview!

Interview Questions

If you could live as an animal, what would it be and why?
My answer would have to be an eagle because I so admire their freedom to soar and see everything, and take care of their family and their big nest. They’re pretty amazing creatures.

If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I love history. And there have been some people in history that have been very important to me in understanding who I am in the world. I would have to choose Mahatma Ghandi as the person I would most like to meet. I would want to learn from him how he learned to be consistent about his philosophy, his values, and how he made decisions about how to prioritize what was really important.

If you could have one super-power, what would it be and why?
I have my mug that I like a lot: I am a principal, what’s your super- power? So, I think I already have a super-power, right? But I gotta say that in Harry Potter the invisibility cloak is a pretty amazing super-power. Maybe that’s a little like an eagle. You can soar and see things, and with an invisibility cloak you can see things at ground level. 

If you could choose another job besides teaching, what would it be and why?
I love trees and forests and plants, and I love eating and I love baking. In terms of another career, I would like to work with the forests and help make the forests healthier.

What is the best thing you ever learned from a student?
One of the things I learned over the years is how to be curious about things to be able to see things in new ways. Adults sometimes get very set with the lens that we see things and we don’t see things in a new way because we’ve always seen it in one way. And when a child encounters something for the first time they don’t have that history and they ask such good questions that always make me think differently about things, and so I’ve learned to listen to students’ questions, because I can learn a lot from the questions that they ask.

Respectfully submitted, 

Thornton Creek Interview Squad 
-Ava S
-Davis G
-Josephine L