Starting out in the middle of the second trimester, teacher Regan Bullers faces challenges as the newest teacher at Kennedy High School.
As our newest faculty member, Bullers has taken over the position of Sarah Riley, a 9th and 10th grade Language Arts teacher who left Kennedy in January. This position opened up on January 19th when Riley moved to Portland, Oregon with her husband. Riley’s sudden departure came about as a result of a new career opportunity for her husband.
Regan Bullers comes to Kennedy from a suburb in the Twin Cities where she had been teaching Language Arts at Anoka High School. With a month under her belt at Kennedy, Bullers has had time to form an opinion of her new high school. “I really like the spirit of the school and the pride that the students take in being Kennedy Cougars,” Bullers said. Bullers also said that she believes Kennedy teaches you how to understand people better.
She believes the transition in the middle of the year is hard not only for her, but for her students as well. Bullers said her new students are used to their former instructor’s teaching style. It just takes time for students to get accustomed to her as a teacher and to get used to her style of teaching.
Prior to her teaching positions, Bullers’ career took her to Nambia for a two year commitment with the Peace Corps. Nambia is an African country, located west of South Africa. The Peace Corps, established by President Kennedy, is a government program made up of volunteers that live and work in developing countries. While living in Nambia, she taught 8th grade math and 9th grade English. For most of her students, English was a 3rd or 4th language.
A typical school day involved getting up at 5:00 AM with school starting at 6:45 AM. Because of the heat, school was over by 12:45 PM. This was followed by a three hour resting time. As one can imagine, this was a very impactful experience for her.
The Peace Corps provided a firm foundation for teaching back home in the United States. With a solid first month under her belt, the future of Bullers and her classes looks promising.
ALLIE SINDLINGER
