One step ahead

Jill Verenkoff, an English 2 Honors and English 4 AP Lit. teacher, has been teaching at Peninsula for 20 years. In that time, she has accompanied two presidential scholars to Washington D.C. and has earned the Teacher Recognition Award from the Department of Education. She will be honored with the PVPUSD “Teacher of the Year” award on Nov. 7.

“I think it’s surreal,” Verenkoff said. “I don’t feel it. I don’t feel like I’m different from any other teacher here, so it’s a big question mark in my head why I was selected.”

Verenkoff said she finds being the center of attention uncomfortable.

According to District Human Resources Administrator, Rhonda Warman, this award is given to only four teachers each year. It is sponsored by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club.

Principal Mitzi Cress was “absolutely thrilled” with Verenkoff’s nomination, calling what she does in her classroom “magical.” Verenkoff’s students agree with Cress.

“Mrs. Verenkoff has a different approach to teaching,” junior Tim Cotter said. “She’s very light-hearted and happy when she’s teaching. It leads to a very relaxed environment.”

Verenkoff has decided to retire after this school year, but calls her decision to teach the “best thing she has ever done.” One factor that nurtured her love for teaching, history and literature was her favorite book, “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy. She said she learned more from the book than any history class she took when she was a student.

Verenkoff said some of her best memories at Peninsula involved the staff, whom she calls “a family.” Others memories involve her time in the classroom and the “joyous” student activities. More recently, she recalls with pride the two trips she took to the White House with presidential scholars David Tang-Quan, class of ‘11, and David Wang, class of ‘12.

Verenkoff has continued to learn from her students throughout her years of teaching, saying “coaching Academic Decathlon and keeping one step ahead of the kids in [nearly every] subject was the most mind-expanding experience.” Being assistant coach for the team turned her into a “virtual egghead.”

“Even though I’m about to retire, I feel like my head is as full as a graduate student in college,” Verenkoff said.