Enjoy content for Extended Teacher Appreciation Week on Sun Valley Insider.
Rebekah Rowe is a science and biology teacher at Hug High School, loved by many students and staff members. She is also the ASL (American Sign Language) Club advisor. She’s an energetic, lovely soul who just wants to see good work come out of her students.
Ms. Rowe studied five years to pursue her career. She said that it took her a little bit longer because she had made some mistakes and failed a couple of classes. However, that didn’t stop her from living her dream to be a teacher and to teach new kids not to give up.
Even when kids struggle in her classes, she doesn’t see it as a downside of learning; she thinks of it as the actual growth of their minds. Therefore, if you’re not struggling, you’re not learning. Rowe stated, “Not everything comes easy for a lot of kids, but when I know they’re having a little bit of a hard time, then I know they’re putting more effort in than they would if they knew [the concept] already. The struggle later will help prove that they actually learned.”
When Ms. Rowe was asked why she likes to work with teenagers, she responded, “I didn’t want to teach teenagers; I wanted to teach biology! Which meant I’d have to teach teenagers, but I don’t mind. I mostly teach freshmen and they’re not as crazy as everyone makes them out to be. They’re just little kids in a new world looking for guidance.”
A lot of students in her classes describe Rowe as energetic, funny, talkative, and caring. Yareli was so kind to answer a couple of questions about Ms. Rowe and her classroom. When asked about information from Ms. Rowe’s class that could be used in the real world, Yareli stated, “I want be a cosmetologist and I have to add a bunch of chemicals together, so I think her biology will kind of help out.”
Another student, Jaden, asks Ms. Rowe to continue “to always be happy, especially in the morning. Sometimes, I come to class early in the morning and I don’t want to be there, but when Ms. Rowe is so excited to just teach the class, it makes it fun.” Clearly, Rowe is a very loving teacher and deserves recognition for her interactions with students and helping them develop a love for biology!
Related Feature:
Related Links:
University staff and students conduct weeklong biotechnology lab at high school (UNR)
Ms. Rowe’s Classroom (DonorsChoose)
