Ipswich welcomes many individuals, but the one that sticks out most to me is Ms. Crain, a student teacher from Endicott College. When I walked into Mrs. McShane’s R-block on February 8th a new face greeted me. She was kind but I had no clue who she was. I came to find out  she was a student teacher who was going to be helping out with a few English classes to take in what it is like to be in a class with high schoolers, but that’s not where the story begins. 

Ms. Crain went to high school at Chelmsford High and shortly after, had committed to Endicott to pursue a teaching career. When I asked her about when she had wanted to first step into the education world she said, “I always wanted to be a teacher, but I didn’t know what I wanted to teach” she told me. Mrs. Crain knows how to work well with high school students-given her young age she can connect with us. In fact, she had gone into college thinking she wanted to teach freshmen but she is “leaning towards teaching seniors.” I think it is safe to say most of us had made an impact on her. 

Ipswich isn’t the first place that Ms. Crain has student taught, she has gone to Notre Dame, Tyngsborough, Peabody Learning Academy, and now is here in Ipswich. She likes to see the different learning environment brought on by the different communities. I asked Ms. Crain where she hopes to teach and she said “hopefully somewhere around Lowell.”  although it’s not Ipswich, we wish her the best and won’t forget how many smiles and laughs she brought us in R block. Her biggest inspiration is her students; they reflect on her as a teacher and she is excited to have her own classroom where she has a group of students who she can help to make better people as they go through the many challenges of high school and life as a whole. 

Mrs McShane, who has Ms. Crain in a couple of classes and R-block is very happy to have her. “It’s good to have fresh eyes in the classroom; it almost gives me permission to try new things,” she explains. Reflecting on Ms. Crain thus far, Mrs. McShane has high hopes for her future “she is sincere with the students, and she makes a good effort to connect with them.”

I know I have made a good connection with Ms. Crain; she has seen me in Every R-block the past month and has helped me on numerous assignments when another teacher was busy. Mrs. McShane was also a student teacher; she really valued the time she got with students and was very fortunate to be placed with two teachers in Peabody who were great mentors and really set the path with good examples for her. She is grateful for all the help and support they had offered to her. 

We wish Ms. Crain the best of luck in her journey of hopefully becoming a high school English teacher; she has changed a lot of perspectives on school and is a great helping hand. We appreciate her efforts to make school a better environment for students and I can see nothing but good for her and her future. Hopefully she can return to Ipswich one day for a visit and create new connections with the incoming classes.