Ms. Kratochvil “sets” her students up for success

Ms. Kratochvil

Hannah Chiswick, The Delphi Staff, Class of '19
February 11, 2019

Delaware Valley welcomes Ms. Alexandra Kratochvil, a new addition to the teaching staff, and one with many talents.

Ms. Kratochvil, a young and bright new teacher at Del Val, attended Warren Hills High School in Warren County, graduating in 2010. At Warren Hills, she played volleyball and met one of our fellow teachers, Ms. Erin Fleming. While in high school, she became involved in film and video production editing. Her favorite teacher as a student was Mr. Castner, who left a meaningful mark in her life: “He was always very encouraging to do the right thing, being a good person, and pursuing what makes you happy while also doing good for others.” Ms. Kratochvil takes those words to heart and lives by them in her daily life.

In the next chapter of her life, Ms. Kratochvil attended Ramapo College of New Jersey, where she studied video production. For just a couple years after college, Ms. Kratochvil worked at a public relations firm where she took part in working with their video production studio. At this point in her life, having studied film and video and beginning a new job in her field of study, she realized it was simply not her calling. Ms. Kratochvil gained a great amount of knowledge in film and video, but all along, she’s claimed to have true passions for teaching, baking, and playing volleyball.

As the volleyball program is growing, Del Val was in need of a freshmen team. Thankful for Ms. Fleming and Ms. Kratochvil’s con- nections, “Coach K” is now head coach of the girls’ freshmen volley- ball team. With a team consisting of some who’ve never stepped foot on a court before, this strong group of 13 girls had a great season this year. Let’s go DVVB!

Ms. Kratochvil proves herself as a highly motivated young teacher who is like to have a very success- ful teaching career. “Teaching was always one of those things on the back-burner of ‘I think I could be good at it.’ I enjoy being around people, I enjoy coaching, I enjoy teaching….” Ms. Kratochvil also said that she could see herself teaching a variety of subjects as well. “Another personal hobby is baking, so in a perfect world, I could see myself teaching Home Economics, cooking, baking. It’s something I’m super passionate about. If not, doing some type of class for film program or video production editing” Ms. Kratochvil said.

Along with baking, she expresses why video production and editing have been, and still are, significant to her: “Post production is everything that happens after [filming]. You get all the footage, you get all the music, the sound, so you edit it all together for your final product. That’s where I feel like I’m most creative…telling the story in my own way,” Ms. Kratochvil explains how she’s found that video production and filming are very meaningful in her life.

Ms. Kratochvil hopes to one day teach a cooking class, or a course related to film and video production and editing. This may be the most a new Del Val staff member has ever had to offer. Our new and bold addition to Delaware Valley is a door opener to possibilities, to say the least.