Rachel Burnett made her secondary ‘debut’ in the Highlands High School Spanish language department. After an unexpected resignation in the Spanish department, the position opened up, leading Burnett to take over the role.
An open position in the middle of the year results in a number of challenges, one being time. Burnett took on this role over winter break leading to intense pressure to become prepared before the new semester started.
“There aren’t enough hours in the day to figure out what I should be doing and I think that when you start a normal school year you kind of have like a month to prepare,” Burnett said.
With the immense time crunch, community and support from other teachers has been crucial for Burnett to succeed in her preparations.
“I met with Mrs. Haffey over break. Luckily, when I left four years ago I kept all my stuff so I looked through that. I’m asking students and kind of assessing where they are and figuring out where we need to go,” Burnett said.
Despite being a teacher now, Burnett first faced a difficult decision when considering whether to switch her pathway during her college career.
“I don’t think I knew I wanted to teach Spanish until college. I have a business degree and about halfway through college, I realized I don’t actually care about business and all these people who do,” Burnett said.
Learning a new language can be tough for many people. However, Burnett is extremely fond of the obstacles that come with it.
“It challenges my brain, and it’s fun. It activates something in my brain that other things don’t,” Burnett said.
In spite of her new entrance into Highlands this school year, Burnett is not new to the district and she is instead a returning staff member.
“Fort Thomas has done so much for me as a person. I was really excited to be able to come back and hopefully pay it forward,” Burnett said.
Burnett is determined to share her love of Spanish in a fun and active way for her students.
“I love to play games. I spiral the curriculum pretty well. We don’t just learn it and then move on, it’s always coming back,” Burnett said.
Burnett has made effective waves within the classroom with many students already being pleased with her teaching.
“The thing I enjoy most about Mrs. Burnett’s teaching style is how she is patient with her students and brings a positive attitude when teaching,” Alliyah Johnson (10) said.
Burnett’s journey to teaching at Highlands is far from simple, however it has become ideal for her and her students.
“I just love it, and it made sense, and I love high schoolers so it just made sense, like just the perfect fit,” Burnett said.
