As Page High School were returning students to school through a virtual fashion, they charade an open door for a long-time teacher at Page. Ms. Hackney, an AP English 11 teacher, who has become the new AP/IB coordinator for Page High School. Learning the news, Pages By Page, got the chance to interview her to discover how she became the new coordinator and how she has been handling the pandemic on top of everything. Setting up the meeting, Ms. Hackney was ready to answer these questions truthfully and honestly.
When asked, “When you first received the news that you were the new coordinator how did you feel?” Ms. Hackney answered, “I was incredibly excited! It was just something I wasn’t expecting but it happened.” She was then asked if becoming the coordinator was the direction she wanted to go and answered with, “It wasn’t something I have thought about doing. I had never even thought about working in a different way besides teaching, but I did see an opening, and I decided why not and went for it.” She then confirmed that she received the news in the first week school had started back.
On top of being the new coordinator, she is also still an English teacher. When asked how she balanced the two of these things this was her response: “I would say all of us are balancing in our own ways, but I have told my kids that practice makes perfect and now it’s time to practice what I preach.” We also asked her why she believes taking these accelerated courses can help students in their future careers, to which she responded, “Taking these courses can help with the students as a whole it gives them many opportunities, there’s a whole team of supportive teachers and admin, it helps you develop sharp skills after high school, and it’s better to struggle now instead of later.”
As well as school, she was also asked questions about the current pandemic and how she has been staying safe. When asked how she was handling the quarantine, Ms. Hackney said, “I’ve been getting work done for the school as well as watching TV to de-stress.” She was also asked what she recommends for students during a socially distanced quarantine, to which she responded, “Just do the best you can do, if you ever get stressed just take some time for yourself so that you can get through it.” Finally, as we came to an end, she was asked how she was staying sane as well as focusing on maintaining her mental health. She replied with, “Just taking breaths and going on a walk just to be outside and breathe.”
Ms. Hackney ended telling Pages By Page that she was excited for the school year and the direction it takes. As well as ending with a smile and saying the notorious phrase “Dream Big.”
