Recently at Stevenson, some new educators joined the staff here. We asked them some questions to help them become more familiar with everyone.
Emily Carlson, Art
Q: What past experiences like work or schooling did you have before coming to Stevenson?
“Right before I came to Stevenson, I was the art teacher over at Epler junior high, and I was teaching there for 11 years. Then before that, I lived in New Mexico, and I was teacher out, teacher and artist out in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”
Q: What brought you here to Stevenson?
A: “I love working with teenagers. I have coached teenagers before, and even though Junior High has teenagers, it is kind of my it was my goal to work with an older group of kiddos and kind of push you guys into the next level of your lives.”
Q: What are you most looking forward to in terms of working here?
A: “Helping kids to discover what they’re capable of.”
Selena Gappy, Medical Science
Q: What past experiences like work or schooling did you have before coming to Stevenson?
A: “I went to the University of Detroit Mercy for nursing. I worked in Corwell Hospital, and then I also worked at Corwell Urgent Care, and I manage a primary care office. I graduated from here a while ago too.”
Q: What brought you here to Stevenson?
A: “Well, I went here, which I love, but I just had a desire to serve and give back to my community in a way. This is something I always wanted to do after nursing. After working like bedside and doing all of that, just being able to reignite or start that spark for my students and anyone else moving into the medical field.”
Q: What are you most looking forward to in terms of working here?
“It is just like a big ball of nostalgia and being able to, like I said, come back to where I was from. I’m most excited to see what comes of it, and what students eventually move on to do different things in the medical field, and how that progresses for them.”
Carla Hotts, Counseling 
Q: What past experiences like work or schooling did you have before coming to Stevenson?
A: “Well, being a counselor is my second phase of life profession. I graduated from Michigan State with a degree in criminal justice. For a short time, I worked for GM, so I was in the business world. Then I worked for a police department for 15 years as a corrections officer, and then at the age of 38 I went back to school and got my master’s degree in counseling to become a school counselor about 15 years ago. Prior to coming to Utica schools, I was at Shrine Catholic for 14 years, and then I started here in Utica, at Eisenhower two years ago.”
Q: What brought you here to Stevenson?
A: “I was transferred. Before, I did a half day at Ford and a half day at Eisenhower. This year, I am 100% at Stevenson, and super happy to be in one place and to be here.”
Q: What are you most looking forward to in terms of working here?
A: “I love the staff, I love my counseling team, and I’m so looking forward to getting to know the students and helping them through their journey to figure out what their next step is after here. My specialty is college and career, so I have a lot of knowledge about different pathways, and I am hoping to help the kids figure out what their path is and help them achieve their goals.”
