Mr. Smorol keeps his students safe while supervising during fifth period lunch. photo by Sony Calhoun
TJ English teacher continues to positively impact students inside the classroom.
At Thomas Jefferson High School, the Spartan community has an amazing team of English teachers. Every day, these teachers help students learn about language, composition, literature, and so much more. One such English teacher in the department is Joseph Smorol, who has been a working part of the English team for the past five years at TJ teaching English 2 for three years, as well as Ap Literature, English 1, and English 3.
Smorol attended Syracuse University, only an hour from his hometown, where he studied Creative Writing during the school year. While he was there, he met a lot of counselors who were also teachers, and he began to consider a career in English for himself. Later on, he came to the realization that he did not want to be a starving artist, as many authors rarely find huge success. To dip his toes in the water, he took a few education classes at Syracuse University, and ended up liking it. Soon after, Smorol declared a double major in Education and English Textual Studies.
Writing has been a long time interest for Smorol, especially poetry. “I write a lot of poetry. I’ve been writing poetry probably since I was in the seventh grade. I never tried to get anything published but I used to do slam poetry in college.” Smorol ran his own poetry club at a previous school, where he would take the club downtown to perform at open mic nights. Smorol fondly shared, “I like to experiment with different types of poetry. In fact, my wife and I take a summer trip every year, and every year she has me write a longer narrative poem about our experiences so that we can remember it afterwards. She orders poetry, she commissions it. There’s always Valentine’s poems for her, and I wrote poems for my vows for our wedding; poetry has always been an important part of my life.”
Like many English teachers, Smorol is a book enthusiast. He compiled a list of his favorite books. The list started with his favorite book: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Smorol loves this book because it is a complete novel with powerful characters. “It’s just something that always stuck with me.” Next on the list was Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. “This is my first year teaching it in AP Literature so I’m super excited about that,” he continued, “I would have to put Lord of The Rings in there, the whole trilogy, just because I’m a huge Lord of The Rings ‘stan’. It’s one of those things I’ve read multiple times in my life. While it’s not something I would necessarily teach, it’s something I love to read.” Later on, he settled upon Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Smorol is intentional about his teaching. “High school was hard for me. I had a really tough time. I went through a lot of dark times. I think that helped me grow and helped me to understand what a lot of kids are going through, recognizing that people have a lot of baggage that people bring in here; they won’t be 100% into analyzing literature all the time when they’ve got things going on in their lives.” Smorol was inspired by his own experiences to be able to support students in his own classroom. “I had a lot of people help me. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get into education. I would like to be that person for people along the way as well.”
While Smorol is originally from New York, he is a nomad. After college, he got a teaching job down in Virginia outside of D.C.. He decided he didn’t want to work where he grew up and that he needed a change of scenery. He discovered that the D.C. way of life was not his style. An old friend from Syracuse invited Smorol to Colorado for a snowboarding adventure in the winter. Once Smorol visited Colorado, he decided that this was where he wanted to stay. “I’ve just been kickin’ it here ever since.”
Aside from being a teacher, Smorol has many talents. This past year, he became the assistant coach for the Boys’ Basketball C team at TJ, which he says is one of his favorite memories during his time at TJ. When Smorol isn’t teaching English, he spends time taking care of his newborn baby Emma. “That’s where a lot of my life is right now, taking care of the baby. I’m enjoying watching her grow and playing with her and teaching her a lot.” Aside from raising a baby, Mr. Smorol enjoys going to concerts with his wife and snowboarding on the winter weekends. Most importantly, Smorol continues his traveling adventures: “we took Emma on her first road trip. We visited my parents in New York and then drove to the mountains. We then ventured to Vermont and Boston. We just got her passport so we’re excited to take her somewhere in Europe hopefully.”
Smorol aims to support his English students in the classroom. Every day, Smorol exerts an effort to make a difference at TJ, setting an amazing example for everybody within the community.
