Ms. Kristen Burghorn has come to PCM High School, in place of recent retiree, Mrs. Eileen
Mercuris, to teach Computer Apps, Accounting I and II, Intro to Business and Entrepreneurship.
Burghorn graduated from Northwestern College in Orange City in 2006. While in college, she got her business, education and accounting degree. She just recently got her M.A. in Business from Drake University in 2014.
“I became a teacher because I love working with kids and being able to teach them new things,” Burghorn said.
Before coming to PCM, she was a teacher at Sigourney Junior/Senior High School for two years. There she worked with students in the field of entrepreneurship and helped them start their own businesses.
“I decided to become a business teacher, specifically, because my teacher in high school was great and made the content we learned fun,” she said.
Burghorn isn’t all teach, teach, teach, though. In her free time, she likes hanging out with her dog, Harvey. She also loves to take pictures of people, places, plants and scenery, scrapbooking and hanging out with her friends.
Even though she has been a bunch of places across the United States, Africa and Mexico twice and Europe once, she has chosen to be a teacher here in small-town, Iowa.
“Next, I would love to go Ireland because from the pictures, it looks like a beautiful place,” she said. “I would like to see that beauty. In addition, it seems like a place full of personality, and I think it’d be neat to experience that firsthand.”
Being a teacher at a new school can be nerve-racking for some, but Burghorn is experiences and has many plans for this year.
“Business is a subject that will affect everyone-whether they own their own business or work for someone else, everyone needs to know the fundamentals of business,” she said. “I’m excited to teach students and hopefully make them more excited about the subject.”