“When I was a new teacher, the teacher who had [previously] been teaching psychology had left. So, when we [began] assigning classes by going up to the board, pulling up what classes we wanted to teach, and putting them under our name, another teacher actually went up to the board, pulled all the Psych classes off, and put [them] under my name. She had said ‘Oh, you’d be great at this, you’re a warm and fuzzy teacher.’ And I was like ‘I don’t know anything about psychology,’ but it has now become my favorite class.”

“I did not initially want to become a teacher. I worked in the science industry for 15 years, doing wildlife biology and working in labs and the patent industry. Then I worked for Jackson Hewitt writing state tax codes for their software. [But] I just felt like I was lacking something. I really missed science, it’s my passion and I wanted to be Jane Goodall when I was growing up. [That’s why] I made the motions to become a teacher.”

“It was weird when I started walking through these halls again. I got very triggered because of the high school experience I had, and I was very apprehensive about coming back. When I was subbing for Mr. Colston, I got over that, and I realized what made my high school experience difficult wasn’t the teachers, [but] who I was around, so I came back feeling very hopeful that my experience would be different and healing.”

“I couldn’t see myself in a nine to five job. I wanted something dynamic that changed every single day, and kids have a way of always surprising me. I am also a huge history nerd. I was first drawn to [it] from playing war games when I was a little kid, and after that, I started reading all my dad’s old history books, so my interest in history peaked very early on in life.  I thought it would be cool to transfer some of that to the kids.”

“I graduated from Rock Ridge and wanted to be able to support students in the same way all my teachers supported me. High schoolers are a lot of fun to work with, and I’m just excited to get to know them. There’ve been a lot of new positive initiatives for students [since I was a student here], such as ‘Brain Break’ and having advisory [classes] staying the same all four years, which is great.”

“I’m most excited about just being here, because I’ve heard so many great things about the students and teachers, and I can’t wait to get started. I really want to help students, especially [those] who don’t think they can do a good job, and [I want to] help them believe in themselves. I am mainly just nervous about learning where everything is and who everyone is.” 

“[I decided to become a coach because] I had coaches who had a positive impact on my life, and really kept me on the right path. I wanted to do the same for somebody else, [and I] enjoy physical activity.”

“I don’t feel happy unless I learn something new every day, so [I] felt like teaching was a good job for me. [What drew me to teaching is that] books have everything. If you read a good book, it has people, ideas, beauty, psychology, and philosophy. Everything about human life can be in a book, and a good story touches on all of those things, so I guess I’ve always been the kind of person who likes teaching. For me, literature brings all that together.”

“So far, I had a great experience at RR, and every day I feel glad that I’m part of the RR community. As a first-year teacher at LCPS, I received tons of support from my colleagues, particularly in the math department and I’m sure without their support, I wouldn’t feel confident and happy with my new position.”

“I wanted to become a teacher because I was working with college athletes and running the tutoring program at UVA. I realized that I really enjoyed the teaching aspect of it, but that wasn’t part of my job as an academic advisor. So I sought out getting a teaching degree, went back to school, switched careers, and became a teacher. I really enjoyed that, and originally thought I was going to teach science, but decided that I like teaching math instead.”

“This is my seventh year teaching. I initially chose to be a teacher because high school is a difficult time for many kids, and I want to help them achieve everything they want to. I look forward to the opportunity to help the freshman class be all they can be. I teach mostly freshmen and I’m a sponsor for the freshman class, [so] I want to inspire in them the passion to chase their dreams every day.”

“Well I think that every day is different and every classroom is different. So, I would say the most exciting thing is everything [being] a new experience for me, since this is only my second year, and I think the diversity and the dynamic makes every day exciting. I think [the most] nerve-wracking [thing] is being able to connect with the entire class. Sometimes you can do your best and it’s still hard to reach everybody. It’s more challenging than nerve-racking.”