There was a wave of new staff this year, including Kimberly Bartels being the new sophomore English teacher.

Many people think they know what they want to do, but the more they dig, the less they really want to do that.

“Actually, initially, my plan was to be a lawyer,” Bartels said. “Then the more people that I met that were either going to law school or wanted to go to law school were either miserable or were changing their minds. And so I thought, well, maybe not.”

In the middle of change, you can find your true passion.

“When I went to go see my adviser the second semester of my junior year, she thought, It’s only gonna take you one extra semester to get your teaching credentials,” Bartels said. “So the following semester, I did my observation, half the semester in middle school, half the semester in high school, and I just fell in love with it.”

Part of becoming a teacher is experiencing the class, which is called observation.

“I observed them for nine weeks, and then I observed juniors and seniors in high school in English class for the last nine weeks,” Bartels said. “So I just really fell in love with it and then finished my teaching credentials the next year, and then did my student teaching that last semester.”

Teaching a grade you’ve never taught can be difficult.

“I was teaching a subject I’d never taught before to a grade I’d never taught before, and so it was a really interesting semester, huge learning curve,” Bartels said.

Coming back from a break in teaching can be really refreshing.

“I’m just excited to be back in the classroom,” Bartels said.

To enjoy teaching, you have to like the place you teach at.

“I feel like Gardner is a special place,” Bartels said. “They’ve created a place where every student can become part of a smaller community.”

Bartels is just happy to be back in a classroom, ready for many more years to come.