Ms. Yopp was recently inducted into Millbrook’s Service Club. Service Club is where juniors, seniors, teachers, and PTSA members get a chance to be recognized for all their service to Millbrook. They can be nominated to get a chance to become members of the service club. In the club, individuals go above and beyond to participate in service activities around school.
Former Millbrook math teacher and beloved co-worker of Ms. Yopp, Mr. James came back to Millbrook to induct her into the service club and present a speech on why she was chosen. Ms. Yopp recounts the inductions as an amazing day and explains, “It meant the world to me that Mr. James took time out of his schedule and new job to be here for me. It was overwhelming and unexpected. I saw him but didn’t put two and two together until he said the word ‘mom’ and I just lost it.”
Ms. Yopp’s son is a current student at Millbrook, but she is referred to as a mom by many other students. Many of her current and past students refer to her as “Mamma Yopp.” Although Ms. Yopp is a math teacher, she wants to be more than that to students, she wants to be a mother figure and make sure everyone feels loved and safe. Former student, Merna Jaafari, says “Ms. Yopp felt like a mom to me. She was always checking in on me and cared about how I was doing beyond math class. She was a great teacher to have.”
When not teaching math, Ms. Yopp loves to spend time with her family and be outside, she says, “Now that the weather is warmer, I try to do three miles with my dog, Dixie. I would love to spend more time with my kids but everyone’s schedule gets so busy! I can do outside tutoring and that is very rewarding for me.”
Recently, Pre-Calculus became an AP course instead of a regular honors course. Ms. Yopp says this is a big transition because now her main goal is to prepare the students for the AP test. One thing she does is make sure her students will be familiar with the phrasing the college board uses on the AP test. She has changed her assessments and lesson plans to match the college board so that students will be able to understand the questions on test day.
