Student Life
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Katie Buckley History teacher Katie Buckley reveals her favorite president, best travel experience and plans for spending this upcoming winter break
Lyvia Yan Staff Reporter When did you first start teaching at ’Stoga? I started teaching last year. Where did you grow up? I grew up in West Chester, and I went to West Chester East High School. Why did you become a teacher? I’ve always really enjoyed school and I had a really good experience in school. I always thought that teaching was something I’d like to do. I really chose social studies ultimately because I had some really influential teachers, who were really engaging and were very encouraging of my interests in history, got me involved in clubs outside of class that really sparked my interest in social studies and different subjects involved in that. What is your favorite thing about ’Stoga? I think my favorite thing about ’Stoga would be the opportunities that it offers. Academically there are so many opportunities for students to get involved and to find electives or courses that really interest them, to take advanced courses or to find a good fit for them. And then in terms of extracurricular activities there’s just so much with students and teachers to get involved in, so sponsoring clubs and being involved in clubs is a really good way for teachers and students to get involved outside of the classroom and find even further opportunities where they can spark each other’s interests and help society and really just get involved in the community. Conestoga does
a really great job at involving those students and teachers and presenting them with real, limitless opportunities. Who is your favorite president and why? I think I would have to say that Abraham Lincoln is probably my favorite president. We’re currently studying Abraham Lincoln in U.S. History right now, and I think that not only is he considered to be one of our greatest presidents, but he’s a really interesting president to study just because of the enormous events and challenges that he faced during his presidency and the way that he was able to handle them and to really demonstrate leadership skills and bring the country back together. If you weren’t teaching, what would your job be now? If I wasn’t teaching I think I probably would have pursued nursing. My mom is a nurse and it seems like it was something that she had a l w a y s r e a l l y e njoyed doing and it would still give me the opportunity to help people. I always want to be involved in some type of career that would allow me to help others and experience meeting and getting to know many different people within my job. I think that nursing and teaching both allow you to help people and to meet so many new people on a daily basis. What do you like to do outside of school? Outside of school I really
enjoy hanging out with my family and my friends. I have three sisters who are pretty close in age with me, so I enjoy visiting them. I really like to read, I enjoy running and I enjoy travelling.
What were you like as a high school student? I think I was probably a pretty typical high school student, trying to find the balance between school work, extracurricular activities and friends. I was pretty involved in school. I played a few sports, I was president of my class, I was involved in Best Buddies and in our school’s TV station, as well as in our business club organization, hanging out with friends and then working as a waitress at a local restaurant, so I think really just trying to balance everything and enjoy things. What places have you travelled to? I’ve travelled to London, I’ve travelled to Paris, I’ve travelled around Ireland several times and then I’ve also been to a number of states within the U.S. and to Canada and Mexico. W h a t is your f a v o r ite place you’ve been to and why? My favorite place I’ve been to is Ireland. Both of my father’s parents grew up in Ireland and so I’ve been there many times, I have family members still there. Probably my
best experience in Ireland was the first time I got to see the farmhouse where my grandmother grew up. It was only a three-room house with no electricity, so it was really cool to see that it’s still standing there. It’s still on my uncle’s farm and it was just a really cool experience to get to see where she grew up and how far she’s come. How do you plan on spending winter break? I plan on spending my winter break hanging out with my family and friends. My sisters will be coming home from work and college, so it’ll be nice to see them and probably catching up on some grading. Maybe travelling a little bit to see some friends who live outof-state now.
Favorites
Movie- “Goodfellas” and “Love Actually” Color- Turquoise Food- Pasta Book- “Anthropology of an American Girl” and “Into the Wild” Sport to play- lacrosse Sport to watch- football Place to shop-Target or Loft Number-Three Male celebrity- Miles Teller Female celebrity- Emma Stone The Spoke 11