Last week Sentinel unfortunately had to say goodbye to one of our amazing teachers in the science department, Alexandria Sobin. Fortunately she will not be far from us Spartans and will be staying here in Missoula; moving on to the Director Position at Spectrum. This means that she will be easily accessible on the second floor of the public library here in town.

Staying in Missoula right now is something Sobin is excited about. She looks forward to her new opportunities to connect her previous job as Spectrums mobile science educator (which happens to be memorable with some of us students now, as those displays were brought to our own elementary and middle schools) alongside her job as a teacher now. She hopes she is able to extend opportunities and collaborate with our science department at Sentinel.
Something notable of Sobin is that, though she truly does love Missoula, she has been far from it plenty of moments in her life. Her dad worked for an oil company which means that she inevitably had to move every three years. During her years in highschool she was in Alaska, which she claims is what pushed her towards Missoula for college.
Her case was that Montana was very similar to Alaska in the sense that the activities you can do are alike, it’s simply that Montana has the accessibility to the rest of the world that Alaska doesn’t have.
She went to our very own University of Montana, right here in Missoula and got a degree in Biology. Though the passion for health Sobin has is undeniable, she admits that there isn’t a very long list of jobs to get after having a degree in Biology. “So [she] decided to ride [her] bike across the country”
Simple enough solution, am I right?
As Sobin traveled on her very long distance bike ride, it wasn’t just for something simple to do, she was working with the company Habitats for Humanity. For those who are unaware, this is a company that works to improve home and neighborhood conditions through renovations and encourages stable and affordable housing. She continued to work for this company and wrote grants, though it was short lived. Sobin then received a call from her boss explaining that there would be no full time job position for her in that company. She was however sent in the direction of Adventures for Cycling.
Sobin interviewed with the company and got the job as their development coordinator. Here she would do major gifts, fundraising, grants, and their capital campaign to build their building. This was a job she worked for four more years.
Sobin continued her pattern of working for non-profits and humanity boosting organizations. This is a trend in her work life and an undeniably beautiful skill to have had in our school.
Alongside these traits, are passions for health care which is not only shown through the work she does in her two year health and science programs at Sentinel, but also in her leadership in our Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) group. A question in the back of mind is that of, why not pursue health care then?
Sobin as a teenager did plan on going into the medical field as a doctor, but quickly realized three things while doing hands-on programs and pursuing opportunities she had been given.
She came to the conclusion that A.) she needed a work life balance, she wanted to know that she could come home and relax without the worry of being called in again. B.) Sobin didn’t want to go to college till she was 32, and who could blame her! And finally C.) she didn’t want to have the weight on her shoulders of constantly worrying about the deep rooted impacts of her job. Though she does understand, and still worries about the impacts of her job as teacher, it’s not a matter of life or death in this case.
She was then led to the academic side as opposed to the medical side. Luckily for us, this led her here for a fortunate 7 years.
She told me that even in her absence she hopes that Sentinel can grow in its compassion. She acknowledges the struggle it is to be a student, as well as a teenager. And though these struggles won’t go away for the time being, being able to extend kindness to those we encounter at school can make our atmosphere at Sentinel that much better.
Since COVID Sobin acknowledges the struggle present with everyone’s mental and physical health. Extending kindness and generosity should prove effective in making life that much easier. She knows the importance of seeing the people we go to school with as a whole person, and not just simply someone we see in the hallway.
One thing expressed when talking about the pride she has in Sentinel is the even playing field all programs are on. She thinks that our programs are exemplified equally and given to most of not all kids who would benefit from them. On top of this all, she hopes that kids here will be able to find more passion in what they do in school.
She hopes that kids will be able to find the confidence and vulnerability in taking harder courses like AP alongside Honors. For many she acknowledges the stress in one slip up like a B, but she also wishes kids would know this is not the end of the world. Colleges are not all that worried by the lack of straight A’s when there are so many arduous classes on a students roster.
All in all Sobin knows that the dynamic Sentinel has, and the reliable science department will do just fine without her. Sobin will miss being able to be with us everyday, but looks forward to seeing the success of not only current students, but previous graduates in their journeys through life.
So to all those who know Sobin, I encourage you as you to make a visit to the public library to say hello to her in her new profession.