On February 5th, 2025, Skyline’s newest English teacher Claire Federhofer started her first day, all the way up in room C402.
Frustrated by her job as assistant principal at Canton High School and longing to return to the classroom, Federhofer sought out a new opportunity here at Skyline.
“Principaling is not for me,” Federhofer laughed. “I love being in a classroom and I love connecting with young people. There’s a lot about [being a principal] that removes you from that.”
Even in her first week, she expresses love for her classes and work. “At the moment, I’m teaching English+ and Academic Literacy, a support class for students. I am particularly excited about the English+ class. We are studying the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, so we’re learning about some historical context, illustration, and communication through illustration. I’m having a really wonderful time.”
Federhofer has a long and well-traveled history of teaching. Originally from South Africa, she began her career straight out of high school. “There was a high need for teachers. My first class was made up of 45 8th graders.”
Federhofer met her husband at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont. She found her way to Ann Arbor through his connection to the University of Michigan. “When I moved over, I had to get recertified; [the Michigan Department of Education] didn’t recognize my 20 years of teaching experience. I did the MAC program at UofM, then did my student teaching at Pioneer High School.”
Skyline does offer some new challenges. “I’m interested to see how the trimesters work, and how you have to adjust your teaching into 12 weeks. I’m used to having a whole semester and the same students all year long, so I’m interested to see that.”
