Mrs. Cates is a history teacher and one of the most tenured teachers currently working at the school. For 14 years, she has inspired and encouraged students to become the best they can be in everything they do. She doesn’t just teach kids; she empowers them. This not only benefits students in how they learn but also how they interact in society. That’s why Mrs. Cates does what she does.

                 “For me, it’s not about the content, it’s about being around the kids. Getting to be a part of their lives and getting to know different kids every year,” she says. This mindset helps students feel truly connected and welcomed in her classroom, which, according to a study involving 150 ninth-grade students, improves their cognitive ability. In this study, students were divided into three groups: CI, CAM, and SCTM. The CI group focused on content, while the CAM and SCTM groups were student-centered. After introducing these teaching strategies, all groups took the same test. The scores for the CAM and SCTM groups improved significantly from before the study, but the CI group showed little change. This highlights the importance of students learning in an organic way, rather than simply being fed information. Mrs. Cates understands this well. “I like loud,” she says. “I like moving; I don’t like to talk a ton. I want kids to be up, playing a game, doing a simulation. I don’t like sitting in rows; I want kids up.”

                 As a teacher, she enjoys seeing kids eager to learn—not just eager to sit and stare at a wall, but eager to gain knowledge through hands-on experiences. She said, “Honestly, for me, social studies isn’t something students have had to work towards.” And for the past decade, she has worked to change that. History is just as important as English, math, or science. It’s considered a “core class” for a reason. Yet, it is often dismissed as one of the lower classes, pushed aside and ignored. Therefore, making social studies one of the more enjoyable classes, inspiring kids to want to learn, is priceless.

                 She doesn’t stop once students leave her class. In fact, she says her fondest teaching memories are when students come back from college or other classes just to say hi. “Those are easily the best memories,” she says.

                 For her, teaching isn’t about passing kids on a test. It’s about the connections she makes with her students, impacting them forever. She says her favorite quality in a student is someone who is just “here to learn to be a better citizen.”