Teacher Feature: Mrs. Ruoff
January 2, 2021
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: This article was written as a whole-class assignment for Journalism to review teacher feature writing techniques as students work to practice interview skills and writing. It features students from the class and is about The Cardinal’s Nest Adviser. All specific roles are referenced in the footnotes.
Mrs. Audrey Ruoff* teaches journalism and English at Crofton High School. She’s been an educator for eleven years before joining the staff here. Ruoff taught at ERHS for ten years and High Point HS for one year.
Mrs. Ruoff said she teaches journalism “Because we can shed light on injustice, and we are the watchdogs of democracy.” Journalism is a big passion of hers, especially seeing as though it’s been a major focus for many years of her life.
She attended the University of Maryland for her college education and majored in English Language & Literature and Secondary Education, and she “stumbled upon being a teacher” after originally majoring in journalism, but she wanted to have a profession where she could help people grow.
Mrs. Ruoff said she enjoys having fun with her students and giving them new learning opportunities. Ruoff says that one particular moment that she was proud of was when her students did a rhetorical terms Kahoot review and the student seemed to be having fun. She was also having fun because she could help explain to them the questions they got wrong.
Mrs. Ruoff said that her favorite part of teaching is her students.
Sophomore Allyson Chelidona** stated that she enjoyed Mrs. Ruoff’s teaching style and especially liked when she got to engage with her classmates in breakout groups.
Sophomore Ryley Douglass*** said she felt similarly. Douglass is in Mrs. Ruoff’s journalism class. She stated that she learned a lot from taking journalism. Douglass’ favorite journalism assignment has been writing articles, especially those about politics.
Douglass stated that taking journalism sparked her interest and generated a much more potent passion to pursue a career in journalism.
Aside from teaching, Mrs. Ruoff has many interests. She enjoys taking barre classes and baking in her free time, as well as playing with her children. She also enjoys reading, as she’s read over 100 books just this year.
*Mrs. Audrey Ruoff is the adviser of The Cardinal’s Nest student newspaper, and the students who interviewed her and the other sources in the article are students in her class as well as members of the newspaper staff.
**Allyson Chelidona is a student in Mrs. Ruoff’s English and journalism classes, and a staff writer for The Cardinal’s Nest.
***Ryley Douglass is a student in Mrs. Ruoff’s journalism class and a staff writer for The Cardinal’s Nest.