Here at Tuscarora, we have a math specialist named Mrs. Williams Kennedy. She is always somebody you can come to for help.

In the past week, Journalism students asked Mrs. Williams Kennedy some questions about her teaching life here at Tuscarora and from the past. When asked about her teaching background outside of Tuscarora, she answered “I also worked at Heather Ridge school. I worked at Urbana High School when it first opened, then I was at Fredrick High School for over 20 years.”

Mrs.Williams Kennedy was a math teacher before she was a math specialist. She has been teaching for 33 years. When asked about why she became a teacher she added, ” There’s a long answer to this: I actually didn’t realize I was gonna be a teacher. I am a first generation college student; no one in my family had gone to college and I thought I was going to go into anything science or medical, because that’s what people did when they went to college. And during my college orientation, I was the only student who didn’t bring my parents because I didn’t know you were supposed to. I sat down alone with my adviser and he asked a very wise question. He didn’t say what do you wanna major in he said ‘ What do you wanna be? ‘ and math teacher popped out of my mouth and still to this day I don’t know where that came from, and I was too embarrassed to change it and it has been my calling. I have to think that that was somehow guided.”

When asked about her past and about her job before teaching, she stated ” I was a waitress for a lot of years. I worked in food service at some restaurants that are no longer around but ‘Dutches Daughters’ was a big one and I learned a lot about dealing with the public. I learned how to please people and I learned how to organize and prioritize during my job.”

Mrs. Williams Kennedy was asked about her job and if she found joy in it she said “Absolutely, that’s what keeps me coming back every day, I find most of the job working with students.”

Many students don’t realize the impact we we have on staff here at Tuscarora.  When asked about how Mrs. Williams Kennedy feels about Tuscarora. She mentioned “I love Tuscarora. I think it’s a great school with students who work hard and enjoy being here and we are led by a great team.”

Tuscarora isn’t just a school, it’s a community. Tuscarora math teacher, Mr. Thibeault,  was one of many students Mrs. Williams Kennedy taught during her career.

During an interview, Mr. Thibeault was asked, “was there anything that stuck with you?” Mr.Thibeault replied with’ Developing strong relationships with the colleagues in your department is something that “stuck” with me from EDUC 411. When I got to Tuscarora, it was very evident that collaboration is a key to success. I feel like the math department at THS is such a close-knit group, that it makes each day a bit easier for everyone.’

Mr. Thibeault was also asked if he used any tactics or things Mrs.Williams Kennedy used and he added, ‘ In my classroom, I use many tactics that I learned from Mrs. W-K. There are many activities, games, assessments, and even songs that I saved from EDUC 411. I still have a file in my classroom with all of the resources I got from Mrs. Williams-Kennedy’

Tuscarora is so lucky to have Mrs. Willliams Kennedy, and it is incredibly obvious how many of her students are thankful for her.