After traveling throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and experiencing many cultures and interacting with various peoples, MHS alumnus Sheldon Hentschke has found his way back to his hometown, Milpitas, as an English student-teacher under English teacher Ginger Roy.
After graduating from high school, he attended San José State University, but had always wanted to leave the Bay Area and explore what was outside, Hentschke said. Thus, he obtained a working holiday visa and moved to Ireland for two years, where he worked as a teacher, he added.
“I had a lot of really cool co-workers and a lot of really cool students,” Hentschke said. “It was generally a really good time of my life. Eventually, my Visa expired, and I had to leave. I bought a motorcycle … and took it from Dublin, across Europe — through Turkey and to Central Asia.” The whole journey “was about 11,000 miles and took a little over two months to do,” he said.
Once reaching Asia during hiring season, Hentschke taught English in Vietnam for about three months, and then later moved to Vancouver Island, in the province of British Columbia, around the time COVID-19 started, he said.
“I was in a new city during COVID, didn’t know anyone, and had a job that was really awful,” Hentschke said. “Once I came back, I was in Philadelphia for a while, working for some immigration lawyers.”
Despite having a good job in Philadelphia, Hentschke said he missed working with diverse and interesting people in the classroom and wanted to return to teaching. Thus, Hentschke moved back to Milpitas and started working as a student-teacher for Roy, he said. His parents previously worked at MHS, he added, so he was connected to it in more ways than one.
“I am familiar with the culture here,” Hentschke said. “I know that it’s a good school. I knew I wanted to come back somewhere where I trusted people. I know I can trust Mrs. Roy to be a good mentor as I go through the student teaching program. It is funny being back, but comfortable as well.”
Although he thinks MHS is a good place to stay, Hentschke said he eventually wants to go back to Ireland in the long-term, and get an English and Language Arts teaching job in international schools, where the curriculum is based on an international framework, and is usually different than that of the nation’s school. He is still restless and eager to travel and explore the world more before settling down, he said.
When asked to describe him and his teaching, Rhea Karanwal, one of Hentschke and Roy’s AP Literature students said “Mr. Hentschke is an incredible teacher. He tries his best to make the learning environment the best for all his students and takes into account what his students think as well. He is flexible, while also having a great passion for literature.”
He is also really helpful and there for us to answer additional questions or explain concepts, senior Sravya Kotte, another one of his AP Literature students, added. He always teaches with enthusiasm, making sure that students grasp the concepts if they do not understand them the first time, she added.