Harris is a special education teacher. She is reading the paper to her students while sitting in her mini setup with the sign and the flowers on the table next to a couch.
Rachel Harris
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve been given about teaching?
A: I would say understanding the first year is a little bit more challenging than the rest of the year.
Q: What made you choose to teach at AAHS?
A: I applied for special education positions, and the position was open here for life skills. So that’s how that happened. It’s not like I necessarily applied specifically to this building: It was more like I was looking for a specialized position.
Q: When was the moment you realized you wanted to be a teacher?
A: I would say a couple of months after I started to be an aid, and I got to be really close with the student I was with. I’m just like watching them progress and I was like, yeah, I definitely could do this.
Q: What is your favorite part of teaching so far? Why?
A: My favorite part of teaching is watching the kids be successful because that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
Q: Who inspired you to become a teacher?
A: My long term mentor. She definitely helped me through my college career for sure.
Q: What college did you go to?
A: Grand Canyon University.
Q: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A: In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and my cat whose name is Lightning.
Q: Why did you choose the subject that you are teaching?
A: Well, for me, I didn’t exactly choose those. I chose special education specifically because I just felt more comfortable and more passionate about teaching special education.
Q: As a student, I know I tend to get nervous for the first weeks of school. As a teacher in a new school, do you feel that sense of nervousness you once felt as a student?
A: Definitely a mixture of really happy that I finally achieved my career goal. However, I mean, it was mostly happy, but also really nervous because there were some kids I didn’t know. So I was not entirely sure what to expect.
Q: Is there something you would want to do during your teaching career? Ex: coaching a sport, head of a club etc.
A: I actually am a part of a club now of Circle of Friends because Mrs. Ainsworth is going to be going on maternity leave. They asked me if I would help out Miss Madison.