By Ema Bojaxhi, Staff Writer
In the 2023-24 school year, River Hill welcomed several new members to its community: students, administrators, and also new teachers. Ms. Long, a new social studies teacher, is one of the teachers that our community welcomed this school year.
Before Ms. Long became a social studies teacher, she had quite a professional journey. Starting off as a substitute teacher for Pre-k and Middle School as well as at Centennial, Long Reach, and Homewood, she eventually worked her way up to get her masters degree and began to pursue a career as a high school teacher. Initially, she mostly taught American Government. However, she also taught other classes such as Foundations of Technology. “I had as much fun working with different materials as my students did,” she says.
As Ms. Long was embraced by our community, she enjoyed how welcoming everyone was and how determined the students were. “I just love the Hawk student body. I love the diversity. I love that students take their studies seriously, but aren’t rushing to grow up too fast. I love the strong sense of community.” She felt like she really belonged here at River Hill and appreciated how straightforward and hard working everyone is.
Since Ms. Long was new to River Hill, she wanted her freshman students to feel welcomed as well. “I feel welcomed in that class because I know everyone from engaging with them in the activities we do in that class.” Annie Ribas states. “She tries to get us to do a lot of group activities, which helps us interact with one another so we can make new friends and have a safe space to express ourselves.”
This sentiment is shared by Leyla Tharan, a freshman in her class.“She tries her hardest to engage with students to get to know them better, like in the first week of school she came around to each table and talked to everyone trying to get to know their names and what they liked. Definitely she has made an effort to try to be acquainted with the class.”
Ms. Long also wants her students engaged and wants them to be bold and take pride in their ideas. Rayan Amimi conveys “She is really nice towards us and she tries her best to understand our point of view in class when we are asked about something.” Ms. Long wants her students to feel comfortable and not to be stressed out with the workload as she says herself, ”I have some ideas. I would like to have smaller classes, and I would like to take home less work. Smaller classes would mean I could also get to know my students better.”
Ms. Long is also trying to be engaged outside of her classroom. She is participating in our community activities such as the Best Buddies club, and seems to really be working with them .“I am excited to be involved with Best Buddies. I hope to sponsor a club next year when I have more time.”
The River Hill High School has a tradition of being a very welcoming community. Ms. Long is experiencing this first hand. She feels that she is being embraced and will thrive throughout the new school year. She also wants her students to feel that way as well. She closely interacts with her students and enables them to succeed. Her students expressed excitement about being in her class. Ms. Long wants to be a part of the community for a long time. “I hope to be a Hawk for the rest of my teaching career.”