Mrs. Smoller has been teaching at BPHS for 14 years. Graduating from Clemson University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and from Robert Morris with a Masters in Education, Mrs. Smoller became a diverse teacher here at BPHS, teaching kids about the basics of marketing and business-related ideas.

She teaches Intro to Marketing, Advertising & Marketing Applications, Marketing through Technology, Big Data, and for the first time next semester, she will be teaching Entrepreneurship. 

“My favorite is probably Marketing Through Technology because I have had the students for three years in a row and it’s fun to watch them grow and continue to get to know them!  I also used to work in market research which is a large portion of that class,” said Mrs. Smoller.

When asked why she decided to become a teacher, Mrs. Smoller said: “I was always interested in being a teacher.  After majoring in marketing, and working in the field, I thought I would have a lot to offer students navigating between prepping for college and choosing careers.  I was always interested in helping with the extracurriculars, too.  I coached track for six years until I had Max, which I really enjoyed!  Then getting to serve as the DECA Advisor has been amazing as well!”

As well as teaching five classes in school, Mrs. Smoller is the DECA Advisor and also helps with teams for the Big Data Jam Competition.

In response to the question ‘What is your favorite thing about being a teacher?’ Mrs. Smoller said: “Getting to work with my students from 9th through 12th grade and getting to watch them grow over the years!  It’s also amazing to watch how enthusiastic my students get about their DECA prep and projects!  Also still being in touch with all of my students as seniors to hear about their college and future plans!”

Before she was a teacher at BPHS, she was a student. During her time attending high school, she played basketball and ran track for four years and ran cross country for three years. Mrs. Smoller used to have two BPHS school records in the 100m and 300m hurdles.  She also played basketball for Mr. Knapp and her team beat McKeesport and Swin Cash in the WPIAL playoffs. Cash went on to win championships at UConn, the WNBA, and the Olympics.

Mrs. Smoller’s favorite classes in high school were history and marketing, contributing to her future career.

Mrs. Smoller is a huge sports fan and loves to watch Olympic sports, but the sport she watches most often would be football.

Mrs. Smoller said her proudest accomplishments in life are her two sons, Grayson and Max, and her greatest inspiration is her mom.

In her free time, Mrs. Smoller likes to be outside, hang out with her family, watch sports, and run.

Her hobbies include running, going to concerts and musicals, and being outdoors with her family.

If Mrs. Smoller could have three wishes, they would be no more COVID, happy, and healthy family members that live long lives, and a beach house. 

If Mrs. Smoller could travel anywhere in the world she would go to Europe. And if she could have any superpower, she would choose time travel.

When asked if she could have dinner with any celebrity, dead or alive, whom she would choose, she answered: “Not a celebrity, but would love to be able to have dinner with my grandpap again.  He passed away almost two years ago and I miss him very much.”

Mrs. Smoller is a kind and caring individual and has a connection with her students that cannot be matched. Her willingness to give up her own spare time to help her students is a characteristic every teacher should possess. Her genuine kindness towards others helps her be more approachable and easy to talk to. Mrs. Smoller is one of the hardest working teachers and I hope every student gets the opportunity to have a teacher like her.