By: Jillian Dlouhy –

“My favorite thing about my job, that’s easy – working with kids, planning my lessons, and teaching, actually teaching.”

Track coach and Biology, Anatomy, and Medical Terminology teacher Carol Moravec has taught at Southeast since 1995, and has been teaching for 26 years overall. She moved to the United States from Jamaica with an athletic scholarship for college, competed in track there, and decided to pursue a teaching career.

Moravec remembers many good times from high school, including hanging out with friends and competing in sports.

“When I was in high school [my high school team and] I came to the U.S. to compete in track in the Penn Relays, [which] is in Pennsylvania. That was huge,” said Moravec.

As much as she enjoyed sports, the competition wasn’t as important to her as hanging out with her friends.

Continuing her passion for running, Moravec coaches the track team here at Southeast and helps kids who compete in the 100m, 200m, and 400m. “I coach…the sprints,” said Moravec.

Some of the people that have been the biggest influences for Moravec have been her biology teacher, coaches, and her dad, who passed when she was only eleven.

“My dad, died when I was really young. But in a way he left me with a lot of legacy. Up to [that] time, [he taught me] everything I needed to know to become a woman,” said Moravec.

A career in teaching always seemed to intrigue Moravec even from a young age.

“When I was younger… all of the neighborhood kids would come to my house and I would have school for them [during rainy days]. I would also go around the neighborhood and I would write letters for people who couldn’t read or write; [and] I would read [the letters their families sent back] too.”

She was also the classroom monitor, and “substitute teacher” when the teacher was absent because they didn’t have substitutes at her school.

“Somebody told me once, don’t try to prove somebody wrong, just prove to yourself that you can do it,” said Moravec.

This is some of the best advice that Moravec has received, and is a good motto that she lives by. Becoming the person she is today, she has had to overcome a lot of things, and worked to prove it to herself that she could do it.

Moravec has been part of the Southeast community for over 20 years and has definitely made an impact on the school. She absolutely loves teaching and coaching and is glad to be where she is.

“Interacting with students day to day, every year, seeing the diversity of students that come to the doors and what they come with…to me that’s what keeps me young and enthusiastic about [teaching].”

Moravec knows that her classes may be challenging for many students but knows that her students can accomplish great things.

“I realized having high expectations is really a good thing for kids. [Five years ago, students] were so scared for the final exam, [so] they studied a lot. That exam was probably one of the highest scores overall,” said Moravec.

Sometimes the appreciation for all that teachers do takes awhile to be heard. For Moravec, many past students have contacted her and thanked her for the challenge of her classes, and said that it had prepared them for the future.
“The thank yous that kids send back to you, [that] appreciation because you don’t always hear [it]..those are the great moments.”