Ms. Sarah Hands is an English teacher here at Oswego High School. She’s a young teacher that understands students and their stresses. Ms. Hands has worked with a diverse group and knows the best way to help her students, along with Spanish. She has worked hard to get where she is, and this amazing teacher deserves a spotlight.
In St. Louis, Missouri, Ms. Hands attended Washington University, pursuing her desire to teach. She first wanted to be a college professor, and with her love for words and writing, majored in English. She attended other classes first, minoring in other subjects such as Spanish, but English was were she found her passion in.
After college, she realized that there were a lot of struggles for professors, and went a different route. She student taught in a diverse high school near her college and near to Ferguson, Missouri, Ritenour High School. Like any student teacher, Ms. Hands was anxious going into the school. She talked with students, and while she taught there, recognized different things she could do to help students stay attentive and understand curriculum. She also learned there that her passion wasn’t just teaching, but it was also helping people who struggled the most.
After Ritenour High School, Ms. Hands decided with her partner to settle in Illinois, so she began looking for jobs in the Chicago area. Her friend, then, recommended Oswego High School to her, so she applied. She did not know what to expect of a school she had never heard of, but after the interview, she said the people were “welcoming” and “all loved to work here”. She wanted to be surrounded by other teachers who loved teaching and appreciated their students as much as she did. Ms. Hands got the job at OHS, and applied all of what she had learned in school, and at Ritenour, to her new classes.
Ms. Hands has enjoyed her time here so far. She loves teaching teens, because she is younger, understands and adapts to them better. She really cares about her students as well. If any of her students have questions and need to open up to her, she listens and understands and helps as much as she can. This gives a more emotional teaching style to her already social one. Whatever she can do to help her students, she will do.
To sum up Ms. Hands, she’s an extraordinary, and compassionate teacher, and more like her are needed around the school. But with Oswego High School’s current budget crisis, she might not be here next year. Her position may be eliminated and another teacher would have to quit in order for her to stay at this school (or an increase in students). But she is ready for anything, and so should her students. Like she says, you should be flexible, because life is “exciting” instead of scary.
Adam Whelpley covers sports and Oswego High School events. He can be reached at 15000535@students.sd308.org. Or contact the publication directly at 42fifty@sd308.org.
Student Publication of Oswego High School, Oswego, IL
