By: Andria Roiballove Photo Credits: Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Elssmann
Loma Linda Academy was saddened to learn that this will officially be Mrs. Elssmann’s last year of teaching, as she will be retiring next year. Mrs. Elssmann reflects positively on her years at LLA and wishes the best for staff and students in the future.
Elssmann taught at both Mesa Grande Academy and Loma Linda Academy for a total of eighteen years. At LLA, she served as a junior high and high school teacher, as well as an S.A. and class sponsor. She specifically taught Life Science, Algebra 1, Algebra 1B, Physics, and Honors Physics during her time. Currently Elssmann is a sponsor for the freshman class, teaches Physics and Honors Physics to seniors, and teaches Algebra 1B to sophomores.
Elssmann began her teaching journey at the LLA junior high in 1997 as the Life Science teacher. She then took a few years off to be with her children. She eventually came back as a long-term substitute for Mr. Burishkin, the high school Physics and Algebra 1 teacher at the time. Years later, she became the teacher for the same subjects.
As a child, Elssmann was a bit of a troublemaker, which was why she never thought about becoming a math teacher. “As a kid, I was never the teacher’s pet. Let’s just put it at that,” she said. Elssmann is known to share several hilarious stories of her childhood with students that has allowed her to connect with them on a deep level. One story in particular involved her and her best friend in 7th grade ditching their class field trip in search of the “Night Stalker.” Moments where Elssmann shares such stories has created treasured memories for LLA students, seniors in particular.
In addition to sharing stories with her students, Elssmann enjoys relating to them, especially when outside of school. She reflected that, “There’s just times that aren’t in a classroom setting necessarily that are amazing. Students really need that time to connect.” Elssmann shared how such connections were made between her and students at campout, due to how relaxed the setting is. “Sometimes, they’ll just kind of come sit beside me at the beach and we’ll just hang out and just chat. I learned things about them that I didn’t realize or I learned things that they learned from me that I didn’t realize,” Elssmann said.
Elssmann also shared a memory from chapel where she made a connection with the student who sat by her. The speaker had told the audience a question to ask the person next to them, which prompted Elssmann to talk with the student. Elssmann stated that the minute conversation did not really have an impact on her until she received a heartfelt letter from the same student. The student essentially wrote, “ ‘You don’t know how much that meant to me and I connected with you in a way I wasn’t expecting to and you gave me what I needed that day.’ ”
Such connections are why Elssmann loves teaching. She said that, “Teaching has been a surprise for all the benefits for me because I wasn’t expecting the connections and the long-term relationships that came, and the ability to make a kid realize that they can do things that they thought were too difficult.” She also added that she loves experiencing the growth of her students at LLA. She often has the same students for Physics/Honors Physics that she also had for Algebra 1B. Elssmann said that she’ll definitely miss this experience of watching students figure out who they are.
On a final note, Mrs. Elssmann left some seasoned advice for the upcoming physics students: “Do your homework every single day…Read through your notes every night. On Monday, you read Monday’s [notes], but on Tuesday, you read Monday’s and Tuesday’s [notes], and then go on to Wednesday. So when the test comes, you’re not like ‘What is that?!’”
Though Mrs. Elssmann’s departure is a bittersweet moment for her and the rest of the LLA high school, she has definitely left a long-lasting impact on the school and its students.
Here is a photo collage of Mrs. Elssmann throughout the years.
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