When she was little she played teacher, organizing her room like a class.

When she started high school she found teachers she wanted to become.

When she was older she started long term subbing as well as substituted in England at Raf Alconbury Middle High School.

From teaching elementary math to becoming a sophomore world history teacher, Mrs. Katie Staggs became one of the ten new staff members.

“I started off my teaching career with math but when I took a test on fractions, decimals, and percentages without a calculator, I hated it. I thought to myself if I hated this, my student will too. From that point I realized that I needed to change the subject I taught and started teaching social science,” Staggs said.

Before meeting her husband, Staggs worked seven years prior at a girls’ private school located in San Francisco. Since then, due to her husband’s career in the military, Staggs had to resign from her job so that she would be able to be with her husband as well as travel around the world with him and teach in numerous places.

“I became a long term sub at Whitney for Mr. [Paul] Hanks for half a semester when his situation happened. Then my husband got relocated to England [so] I had to stop teaching again so that I could start tutoring and subbing for the air base we lived in,” Staggs said.

As part of her personal life, Staggs has two young children and deeply enjoys traveling. Her experiences in England allowed Staggs to further explore her passion in world history and also connect with the events she teaches.

“It was one thing to talk about King Louis XVI’s execution but physically being at that spot was something I admired; I got to see numerous things I’ve taught in real life,” Staggs said.

During her time substituting, Staggs has been looking for a staff position and once Mr. Scott Collins found another job, Staggs took the opportunity to apply. The spirit of the student and how supportive the teachers are of their students are what made her fall in love with the school.

“Whitney got me hooked ever since I subbed. Every time I subbed for other schools, the whole time I was thinking to myself ‘Oh my gosh, I just wanna be back at Whitney’,” Staggs said.

Teaching has been a priority in her life, especially with the way she teaches. In her lessons, Staggs strives to get the students involved and interested. In the future, Staggs hopes to be a reason her students are passionate about their education.

by MAXIMO ESGUERRA , ANJANI KEDIA AND MARLEY SKY