Already one of the International Baccalaureate program’s most beloved math teachers, IB Mathematics teacher Ms. Donna Noll was recently promoted to IB Coordinator, having expressed interest in the position after teaching math for over 20 years. This new position will allow her to impact the IB community on a larger scale and work with all of Seminole’s IB students.

Noll was extremely happy to hear she had gotten the job of IB Coordinator, and is eager to contribute to the program.

“[Our IB program] has been around for a long time and a lot of people have worked very hard on it so I want to make sure I live up to that expectation,” said Noll.

Most of her job as IB Coordinator involves making sure that everyone who signs up to take the Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) exams in May is prepared to, and that students are on the correct list for their exams.  In addition, Noll will makes sure that the exams arrive on time with all supporting materials, and that all the other tasks that IB students have to complete are managed.

Noll has previously helped with larger IB projects, so she will rely on her years of organizational experience to complete these tasks.

“She definitely is fit to assume the responsibilities and work with that job, but at the same time it’s sad to know she won’t be in the classroom as much,” said senior David Barrios, one of Noll’s students.

Before she worked at Seminole High School, Noll lived in Rhode Island. She knows first-hand what it is like to participate in rigorous high school courses; Noll herself was enrolled in the Gifted program in high school and took Advanced Placement and Honors courses.

After withdrawing from college, Noll worked for ten years as an executive assistant and meeting planner. Subsequently, Noll heard of a program provided by Virginia Tech that allowed students to erase their prior GPAs and start their educations from scratch.

Noll went back to school and got her degree in math. Math especially appealed to her inner organizer; she has always looked at math problems like they are puzzles that need to be solved. She later started teaching math at SHS, where she soon became one of the most popular teachers.

“Ms. Noll has helped me so much: not just as a student, but as an individual. She was already so involved in SHS with Senior Class Council and things like that, so IB Coordinator was the perfect fit for her,” said senior Shreya Patel.

She loves the people she works with and how SHS is supported by the Sanford community. Her favorite thing about working in the school system is the students, who she helps through the difficulties of IB.

“I know that IB students in the future will definitely benefit from her help and they can always go to her if they have questions or concerns,” said Patel.

In spite of the challenges, Noll is eager to learn new skills and adapt to the requirements of her position.

“I’m a big question-asker right now as I learn this job,” said Noll. “And so I guess that’s something everybody learns from, every time you encounter something you don’t know how to do, you have to ask. That’s how you learn.”