Ms. Terhardt is a History teacher at Aliso Niguel who has taught many subjects over the years, but she’s always loved and taught history. Ever since her 8th-grade year, Ms. Terhardt has known she wanted to be a teacher and has never deviated from that path. She has found absolutely no regrets in her career choice and heartily enjoys teaching.
Ms. Terhardt says, “Some fun facts about me are that I actually went to school, Kindergarten through Senior year in the CAPO school district.”
This year at Aliso Niguel, Ms. Terhardt teaches four sections of AP European History and one section of AP Human Geography. Previously, she has taught world history along with honors world history, which is no longer an option. However, this is her third year teaching AP Euro and her second year teaching AP HuG.
Ms. Terhardt says, “The biggest differences between these courses are the different energy that the Freshman versus the Sophomores bring, but I love how ready both grade levels come to learn.”
If you’re thinking about taking AP European History in your sophomore year or AP Human Geography in your freshman year, Ms. Terhardt has some tips to help you.
Ms. Terhardt says, “The biggest tip for AP history classes would be to come with a mindset where you desire to learn and investigate new topics and not just a mindset of memorizing and reiterating basic facts.”
Being a teacher doesn’t just mean educating students on different subjects. To Ms. Terhardt, it means guiding and getting to know students. Ms. Terhardt does her absolute best to guide her students through their studies and their mentalities.
Ms. Terhardt says, “My least favorite part about teaching—especially in AP classes—is seeing the pressure students put on themselves to be perfect.”
Ms. Terhardt makes her classroom a fun and positive place to try to ease the nerves of her AP students. She reminds them that what matters most is trying your best and learning from mistakes to continue to grow. She also reminds everyone that trying to be perfect is not worth the resulting burnout, try your best and have fun, don’t overdo things.
Not only is Ms. Terhardt an outgoing and outstanding teacher, but this year, she is also a coach for the Girls’ Basketball team at Aliso Niguel. She is very passionate about girls’ basketball and played it all 4 years of her high school career and is now passing on her knowledge.
Besides the technicalities, Ms. Terhardt genuinely enjoys teaching, and one of her favorite parts of teaching is her lectures.
She says, “I knew that I loved to tell stories and engage people in interesting conversations and now that is something I get to do on a daily basis!”
Danika Kvek, a sophomore at Aliso and one of Ms. Terhardt’s current AP Euro students, says, “I love Ms. Terhardt’s lectures because of how much detail, thoughtfulness, and engagement they have.”
Ms. Terhardt is a very welcoming teacher who enjoys engaging in conversations with both students and her fellow teachers. So don’t worry if you haven’t met her just yet, as she plans to continue teaching history and being the kindest she can be for the foreseeable future.
