Teachers choose to teach for a reason. Some teachers can be unmotivating because of their approach to teaching and some teachers can impact students’ lives for the rest of their life. Ms. Reick has been teaching for three years and has been at Warren teaching for two years. She has impacted students’ lives for just the couple of years she has been here. Not everyone knows who she is because not everyone has had her as a teacher but whoever has, has been blessed with a great learning experience from her.
Nothing from Ms. Reick’s childhood inspired her to be a teacher. She did say she played pretend school a lot but that wasn’t the cause of her pursuing her academic career. It wasn’t until high school of Ms. Reicks senior year when she knew that she wanted to teach. She took all AP and honors classes throughout her high school career. When she made it to her senior year she took a regular science class that was not AP or honors. In this science class Ms. Reick explained that “the class was chaos, our teacher had no control over the room, my friends were in that class and they were chaos.” She was able to compare the kindness and the caring that the AP and honors teachers had for the students compared to the teachers who were teaching just regular classes. At that moment she knew she had to become a teacher so she could care for these students as some of her fellow classmates at the time didn’t get that kind of compassion from their teachers.
She enjoys and chooses to teach highschoolers as the younger kids can be a little too crazy for her. Ms. Reick has impacted many students’ lives. I asked her why she thinks her students like her so much and why does she think her old students come back to visit her so often? She explained that she doesn’t see how much her students are so appreciative of her but she did say “I don’t just see you guys as people who come in here and get a grade, I view you as humans and want to take the time to know you guys and be a positive influence.” It has been a long time since Ms. Reick has been in high school but not long enough for her to not understand how rough high school can get for her students. Ms.Reick is very understanding and that is how she has helped people so much with learning things through school and learning new things outside of school. Ms. Reicks old students who come in everyday to eat lunch with her during their lunch period said “my best grade last year was in history because Ms.Reick was my teacher.” They explained that something about her teaching made them want to listen and comprehend her work better. Cameron said “I come back to visit Ms. Reick during my lunch period because it wouldn’t feel right to not include her in my last year of school.” Everyone said when talking to Ms. Reick, they feel heard and understood and that is the best thing you could get out of a teacher.
According to “SPSP,” “students’ behavior can be improved when their teachers show respect, empathy, and compassion towards them.” Besides behavior, it helps students grow and makes them more positive about themselves. I asked Ms. Reick about her bad days and if she has ever taken it out on a student. She responded with “as a teacher of course we have bad days just like the students do, we are all human, but I have never taken my bad mood out on a student even if they were misbehaving.” She explained that “in any situation, if I was in a good mood or bad mood, no student deserves to be disciplined in a harsh way.” I had her tell me how she reacts when a student disrespects her and she said “I just send them down to the deans that have the higher power to deal with it.” When a student is misbehaving in her class she handles it in a different way then the average teacher who could be a little mean about it. Her soft voice and her gentle discipline lets her students want to listen to her more. But when she does try to discipline, it can be a little tough because she is younger and her students don’t take her as seriously as they would take another teacher.
As teaching here for two years, Mrs. Reick has noticed and loved how much Warren does for us students. She said “ I don’t think the students have a lot of school spirit, but I know the school does a lot for you guys to have school spirit and to bring the spirit up. A lot of schools don’t do or have what we do or have.” She enjoys working at Warren and appreciates the students she teaches, “I had a couple of job opportunities but I picked Warren because I was already liking the staff that interviewed me and I still like them to this day.” She’s happy to be here at Warren and wants to stay for a long time and help all the kids that come through each year.