Rachel Jadormeo, An AP Literature and GT Humanities at Emerson High School shares the highs and lows of her teaching career and how deeply she enjoys her time at EHS.

In her adolescent years, Jadormeo had a deep love for reading and often found herself enjoying her own English classes. Her appreciation for literature is what made her decide to pursue teaching as a career

“I enjoy reading. That’s part of the reason I became a teacher. There was a time in my life when I read a book six times called Island of the Dolphins and I really connected to that book,” Jadormeo said.

Since she teaches AP Lit to seniors, she has noticed one of the biggest struggles was getting them to participate in lessons. In order to get them to engage she often assigns light-hearted assignments.

“Every day in the fall we would watch an episode of “Over the Garden Wall,” and we got to analyze it and make our characters,” Jadormeo said. “Basically it was just a silly way to write fanfiction. We had a good time with that one.” 

Throughout the year, Jadormeo always looks forward to witnessing her students’ personal and academic growth and loves making an impact on her students’ lives. 

“The achievements that mean the most to me have to do with students. I had a student once who never smiled, never laughed, never cracked a joke and my goal was to make him smile and I accomplished that,” Jadormeo said. “I feel like I value stuff like that more.” 

A rewarding part of teaching for Jadormeo is seeing students having fun and interacting.

“Teaching isn’t an easy career. Like any job, sometimes it can be a real challenge, but it’s the students I meet and the laughter we share that makes it worth it every day,” Jadormeo said.