Upon the start of the 2018-2019 school year at Miami Lakes Educational Center, the students and staff welcomed several new teachers, one of them being Rebecca Devries, a ninth-grade social studies teacher.
In one of the first classrooms when entering the second floor from the front staircase, the world history classroom is still barren and lacks the kind personality that Ms. Devries has. But, this is excused because it is both her first year at MLEC, as well as her first year teaching. On her desk, she has a plastic container with orange Play-Dough, which she offers to visitors of her classroom.
From New York, Ms. Devries received her college degree from the State University of New York College at Cortland, also known as SUNY Cortland, and is now working towards her master’s degree in literacy with only two semesters left.
Prior to her employment as an MLEC staff member, Ms. Devries taught for a few months at River Dell Middle School in New Jersey.
“I was also hired as a substitute teacher every so often, so this is my first full year of teaching,” she claimed. “I’m so nervous, but I’m so excited at the same time. The other teachers giggle at me because I’m still smiling a lot, and so I have to tell myself to calm down.”
With a past of teaching her younger sister and love for helping others learn new things, Ms. Devries decided to become a teacher. She had always harbored an interest for history, the stories they told and how no matter what story is being told, someone will find it relatable or take an interest in the topic.
“I love the wars,” she said, “they’re fun to teach. So is the middle ages with the kings, queens, and knights. From the wars, I especially like World War II.” Even with her degree in literacy, Ms. Devries is indeed a true fan of history.
Ms. Devries has a ‘lenient’ work ethic and is fond of communication between her and the students. She prefers to use interactive lessons where each student can have an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions and videos or songs from online, rather than giving her students bookwork or teaching them only through a lecture.
Even though Ms. Devries has only been with the school for a few weeks now — and essentially has no idea what the remainder of the school year will hold for her — she hopes that her students can eventually feel comfortable with approaching her and discussing their grades or any issues they have with her. Miami Lakes Educational Center earnestly welcomes her to the school, and she’ll surely do wonderfully in her first year.
