From working on tobacco farms and driving tractors, to teaching high school math classes and driving bright yellow sports cars, North Penn High School teacher Mrs. Amy Hrinyak shows students that fun doesn’t stop at adulthood.
To some, having a 2023 Toyota Supra as your only car might seem impractical, but to Hrinyak, it gives her a reason to be completely and inevitably herself.
“I like to be different and have fun,” Hrinyak stated.
It is clear that Hrinyak embraces her individuality, despite how hard it might be sometimes to stand out from the crowd.
“I’m unique. It’s kind of my favorite and least favorite [trait] at the same time. It makes me who I am, but it makes it hard to fit in too,” Hrinyak explained.
Many students who are familiar with Mrs. Hrinyak have most likely noticed that her accent isn’t native to Pennsylvania. In fact, she actually grew up almost thirteen hours from our hometown of Lansdale.
“I grew up on a farm in Tennessee. It was very beautiful. My favorite part was helping with the animals, with the cows, and sometimes we had pigs. I also had my own sheep. They were definitely my favorite,” Hrinyak said.
Although Hrinyak enjoyed taking care of the animals, some of her other responsibilities proved difficult to carry—especially when she was a high schooler herself.
“Through high school, my dad made me work in the Tobacco [fields]. I did not like that. It was hard. I mostly did the part where you rode on the back—there was this contraption on the back of the tractor—where you would put the baby plant in, and the machine would put it in the soil. You would have to go really slow,” Hrinyak admitted.
At the same time she was harboring her love for animals and driving tractors, she held another love close to her: her passion for math. Eventually, this love led her away from her home state where she majored in something completely unexpected.
“After Tennessee, I went to Georgia Tech, and I got an engineering degree,” Hrinyak remarked.
It might be puzzling trying to decipher how an engineering degree could have resulted in a teaching position at North Penn, but to Hrinyak, the frightening decision to change passions after college was a leap she was willing to take for her happiness.
“I loved engineering in school, but I just didn’t ever like any job that I tried. I don’t know if it was misogyny or just my personality, but I didn’t like it. For a while, I was in between jobs, and I started subbing. I fell in love with it. When we moved to Pennsylavia, that’s when I got my teaching degree” she declared.
Hrinyak has now been a teacher for twenty-four years and has loved every second of it—especially when it comes to her students.
“I really value my relationship with the kids. I want them to see my enthusiasm and make that contagious and not such a chore. I think having rapport with the kids makes all the difference,” Hrinyak noted.
These strong morals as a teacher have really impacted many students here at North Penn.
“I loved having Mrs. Hrinyak for Precalculus. I was pretty nervous about the class, but her welcoming and cheery personality really helped to make me comfortable in the classroom. Her lessons were always very engaging,” North Penn senior Haruka Weir commented.
Hrinyak has touched the hearts of our high school. Her infectious laugh and funny jokes have made her a wonderful addition to our staff. But most importantly, she cares about the students that walk these halls.
“I always like to tell kids, ‘You never know what you’re going to do in the future, so you need to try a lot of things’,” she announced.
Whether she’s teaching you derivatives or whirling past you in her fashionable car, Amy Hrinyak sure knows how to live life to the fullest.