Mrs. Cunkelman is a World History teacher and former student at EBHS. She has taught at other schools, but has happily returned to EBHS and is glad to be able to give back to her community.

Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING HISTORY?
A: I have been teaching history for eight years total and this is my fourth year teaching at East Brunswick. I’ve taught in North Carolina and Kentucky. I also worked as a substitute at North Pole High School in North Pole Alaska. It was really fun, I like it because every school has given me a different perspective; I’m an East Brunswick graduate so it was very cool to go to all of these different high schools and different states and different cultures to kind of absorb what they do and give them a little bit of what I do.

Q: ARE THERE TEACHERS AT EBHS WHO TAUGHT WHEN YOU WERE A STUDENT HERE?
A: Yes. It is very cool now because you know we’re a little bit older and we respect each other as colleagues and we’re friends, you know it’s very nice.

Q: WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE A HISTORY TEACHER AT EBHS?
A: I wanted to become a history teacher because I genuinely love it. I am a millennial so I grew up remembering 9/11 and the wars that are in Afghanistan and all of the things that were happening in the world during that time and we used to do interviews of a family member that lived through the Great Depression or a family member that remembered Kennedy being shot and all those things. It occurred to me that I am going to have all that. My kid is going to come home at some point and say “mom, where were you when 9/11 happened?” or my niece or nephew or whoever. This made me realize that I am really living through history and just how important it was. I wanted to pass on that concern for others and that compassion for the world and help people understand how we came to this point and how do we move forward in a positive way.

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR ACTIVITIES OR HOBBIES YOU HAVE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL?
A: I enjoy spending time with my family first and foremost. I also enjoy travelling and my parents really pushed me to do that. I was a stubborn teenager, as we all are, right? They really wanted me to do a study abroad program and not because I didn’t want to travel but because I had other things going on, that I said, “I can’t take the time to go live somewhere else for a semester.” That is probably my biggest regret. I think if you have the chance to do a study abroad program, if you don’t know another language, go to Ireland, go to the UK, whatever, and don’t be afraid to abandon your life. Things that matter in your life will be there when you come back. You get a totally different experience living somewhere than if you’re just visiting.

Whether Mrs. Cunkelman is teaching kids to keep an open mind while they’re young or to understand the significance of history, she is an extremely passionate teacher and role model for people to look up to.