This Bethel Park teacher’s lifestyle is traveling the states and going to competitions. Mrs. Smoller has taught Marketing at the high school for 15 years as well as Big Data and is also the DECA advisor.

Smoller has always been interested in teaching and took marketing classes and DECA when she was in high school as well. She worked in market research as a project manager prior to working at BPHS and said that if she wasn’t teaching she’d love to be doing something with marketing or data analytics.

Smoller says that she was lucky to have this opportunity as a teacher and loves working with her students. She said, “My favorite thing is to see how hard students work on their projects and how much ownership and investment and time the students put into the projects.”

Her students also love working with her and traveling to competitions as well. One of her current students said, “Mrs. Smoller is the most comforting teacher I know. I spend every morning with her and she always makes my day better. She’s one of the sweetest people I know.”

When Smoller first started teaching, she coached track, as she’s had a passion for running. Outside of school, she enjoys going on runs, along with watching other sports. Smoller eventually quit coaching after having her second son but still loves her various jobs as the high school’s marketing teacher.

Family is also extremely important to Mrs. Smoller. She enjoys activities with her kids and stated, “My favorite thing [outside of school] is spending time with my family…watching my kids’ sports, and also going out to concerts.”

Smoller’s favorite place to be is wherever the weather is warm and even went to school in South Carolina. She ended up moving back to Pittsburgh though to be with her family and friends. She likes living in Pittsburgh and wouldn’t move anywhere else, but loves to travel around.

She urges students who share her passion and want to work with marketing to take her class and travel along with her for DECA. Smoller would love to have new faces join her in the upcoming years, not only to help them learn but to encourage them in their futures.