In August, Sterling High School welcomed two new members to the English department: Ajayla Ries-Ennells and Teagan Cassell.
Teagan Cassell
Q: What has been the largest difference from your current position and being a college student?
A: This is my first year teaching, so the largest change or difference has been the idea of just teaching each day, rather than teaching, having another job, and taking college courses. I also worked with juniors and seniors for my student teaching semester as well as working with 6th graders-12th graders at my job at the after-school program, so it has been interesting working with primarily Freshman and 1 Sophomore class!
Q: Why did you choose to become a teacher?
A: The longer side of the story is as follows: I first wanted to become a teacher when I was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do teaching full classes of students of all different ages, even some who were much older than myself! I had a new-found confidence when I started teaching those classes and I knew I wanted to continue teaching in some form. As I went through college at UIUC, I had moments of imposter syndrome, where I wasn’t sure if I was really supposed to be an English teacher. But, once I started working at an after school program my sophomore year, I knew for certain. I just really love working with kids! I had worked with kids as young as 1st grade all the way up to 12th grade and then adults as well. I enjoyed it all!
Distinctly, I remember the moment of driving to work at the after school program and realizing that I didn’t dread going to work like I had when working at restaurants, in theaters, and other jobs I had previously. I felt such a sense of peace knowing that I was meant to work with kids and even on the rougher days I still loved it. Not to mention, I still worked at the after school program while student teaching! THAT was A LOT of kids per day and I still loved every tiring second of it.
Q: In the past 3 weeks, what has been your favorite part of joining the S.H.S. faculty?
A: My favorite part of joining the S.H.S. faculty has been seeing how nice everyone is! All of the teachers, especially our English cohort (woot woot!) have been an amazing help. I love how we are able to bounce ideas off of each other and better ourselves for the students.
Q: What courses do you teach?
A: I teach English 1 and Pre-AP 2.
Q: Are you involved with any athletics, activities, or clubs at S.H.S.? If not, do you plan to be?
A: I am not involved in any yet, but I may be looking into that next year!
Ajayla Ries-Ennells
Q: What has been the largest difference from your current position and being a college student?
A: The largest difference from my current position as a first-year teacher and being a college student is the work load. They are both substantial in their own way, but being responsible for 115 students with individual personalities, needs, and behaviours on top of preparing materials, planning, grading, and being a person myself is much more of a challenge than the course work in college. Also, I didn’t often have to be to class at 7:00 a.m. everyday so the schedule shift has been pretty interesting to navigate.
Q: Why did you choose to become a teacher?
A: The choice to become a teacher was not an easy one. I cycled through many career choices in my early life (Geologist, Artist, Novelist, to name a few) but one thing that remained static was that everyone told me I should be a teacher. I was told I had a gift for simplifying and explaining topics and information that even the adults in my life had a hard time explaining. I taught fellow classmates how to write essays, develop speeches, do complex mathematics problems, among other things. And, because I loved English so much and felt so connected to my English teachers throughout my life, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show off this seemingly natural skill of mine. But also, and arguably the most important, I LOVE getting to see firsthand when something finally “clicks” for someone and watching their confidence grow from even just ONE instance of answering a question correctly, coming to a complex conclusion on their own, etc. It matters to me that each generation has a quality, accessible education and I felt as though I could make a difference by being a part of a system that provides that to people, especially if I have this “gift” that so many have said I possess.
Q: In the past 3 weeks, what has been your favorite part of joining the S.H.S. faculty?
A: In the past three weeks, getting to know my students and colleagues has definitely been the highlight of joining the SHS faculty this year. I adore my students and their amazing and unique perspectives, skills, values, and overall just getting to build a relationship with each of them has been such a pleasure. My colleagues have been nothing short of kind, helpful, and supportive as well which has made this new experience much easier.
Q: What courses do you teach?
A: I am currently the ONLY English 3 teacher, which is both a huge blessing and has its challenges.
Q: Are you involved with any athletics, activities, or clubs at S.H.S.? If not, do you plan to be?
A: I am not currently involved with any extra curriculars at SHS, but I do hope some day to take on the challenge of adding another responsibility to my experience as a faculty member here.
