Spanish teacher Kate Stacey is back.
Even though it wasn’t her choice to leave the high school, Stacey had been teaching Spanish at the middle school for the past two years and returned at the beginning of this school year. She now is teaching Spanish 2 and 3 at the high school.
“Initially, I went to the middle school because the class sizes shrunk so much that there weren’t enough classes for me to teach here,” Stacey said. “I was at the middle school, [and] I also taught sixth grade in the afternoons. And when Mrs. Dykhouse retired, that enabled me to come back full-time and be locked in. I probably won’t have to leave again.”
Stacey is elated to be back at the high school and is satisfied with the reality that she will most likely be here until she retires.
She is ecstatic about teaching higher-level classes compared to the rudimentary classes she taught at the middle school: Exploratory Spanish and Spanish 1. Even though Stacy is glad to be back, there were aspects of teaching at the younger level that she enjoyed at the middle school. She enjoyed the childlike aspect of teaching middle schoolers.
“I like the energy of the middle schoolers,” Stacey said. “They are silly. I like to have fun so I can be kind of silly and goofy. But I would say at the high school, I can employ high levels. I can teach Spanish three and we can talk a lot in Spanish. I enjoy that.”
Stacey has come to the realization that she can potentially have kids multiple years in a row since she’s been back. Potentially, some kids could have Stacey as a Spanish teacher from Exploratory Spanish—which is typically taken in seventh grade—all the way to Spanish 3—which is usually taken during sophomore or junior year. Stacey did not realize how thankful she was for this until she got a kind welcome from the community.
“The staff is great,” Stacey said. “The kids are great. Everyone is great. Students knew who I was, so it’s really fun to just kind of go along and see everybody again and have some students for the third year in a row, which is crazy. And those kids I’ve had for three years in a row I might even have me next year too. I like that.”
Although Stacey enjoys her new job, she still has some struggles. Stacey has three kids—all under the age of 10—who are completely oblivious to not only that she has a job, but that she recently has completely changed where she works.
Stacey loves her kids, but they cause a lot of stress for her, and it sometimes makes it difficult for Stacey to hide the fact that she may not have gotten a lot of sleep.
“My physical appearance might not be great,” Stacey said. “Or, on Monday in fifth hour, for example, I told everyone to have a good weekend. And I did that same thing last Monday.”
Stacey does not have the easiest home life, but she gets through it; she shows up to work and teaches as well as she can. All in all, Stacey is grateful to be back and is eager to educate students about the foreign language she holds dear to her heart—hopefully, for the rest of her career.
“I’m pumped,” Stacey said. “I love teaching middle school, but I’m definitely a high school teacher kind of person. I was excited when I had the opportunity to return to the place where I’ll hopefully be until I’m old and gray.”
