MaryRose Reed, commonly known as Mrs. Reed, always has a smile and a good attitude at Tuscarora High School. Mrs. Reed grew up in Potomac, Maryland but moved to Frederick, Maryland in 1984. As a child, she dreamed of being an actress or ceramics artist. Luckily, she’s been able to live out part of her dreams; Mrs. Reed has been teaching ceramics and other art classes since 2007 in the FCPS system. As of 2025, Mrs. Reed has been working at THS for 19 years

Personally, I’ve known Mrs. Reed since my freshman year of high school. Throughout my four years at THS, she’s always been willing to lend an ear whenever I needed someone to talk to, and she always has the right amount of cheer to make any day better. As someone who struggles with being positive some days, Mrs. Reed’s good attitude motivates me to try and see the bright side of things.

During her time at THS, Mrs. Reed has been enthusiastic about helping students. THS Senior Christopher Robinson recalled how Mrs. Reed is “really personal with everything.” Robinson described in his Ceramics 1 class how, “Towards the beginning, she started asking me about colleges and how much she hated certain colleges. It made me smile how much she got into it and made me realize that I needed to start thinking about colleges, too.” Similarly, a senior who chose to be anonymous described Mrs. Reed’s actions in his Art 1 class, “It didn’t really matter where you were in a project or painting. She was always willing to help no matter if you were behind.” He also explained that, “I hadn’t really done anything with art in a long time, but having that class with her kind of reinvigorated me with getting back into that.”

Surprisingly, Mrs. Reed’s attitude comes following a lot of hardships in her life. “My dad left when I was 13,” Mrs. Reed described in an interview on Sept. 17. “My sister died when I was 33, that sucked. Total paradigm shift after that.” Instead of letting these hardships stay with her, Mrs. Reed has pushed on to become the happy, helpful teacher THS knows. Her life experiences have taught her valuable lessons that she tries to tell her students whenever possible. “Life is difficult and if you can accept that you can be like, ‘oh, this isn’t about me, this is about the fact that life is difficult,” Mrs. Reed explained. “Life is complicated because people get stuck on these issues and they think it’s black and white like binary.”

Although life is difficult, Mrs. Reed pushes through and does her best to help her students grow as well. “I believe in acknowledging our physical glories and limitations. The way that a lot of people act is simply because of the way their brain functions, y’know, but it’s malleable and we can work with that,” she stated. “You have to be willing to adjust and change. To be willing to move forward and evolve.” In her classes, Mrs. Reed always makes sure to check up with students while giving demonstrations and advice whenever needed. Through her genuine care, she’s managed to create a fun environment for students. How does she stay so happy, though? The answer is actually due to the students themselves. According to Mrs. Reed, “The thing that makes me happy is people, and I’m always with people so I’m happy.”

Sources

• Reed, M. (2025, September 17). [Personal interview by the author].