Hamilton High School’s Mrs.Butler was interviewed this past week, in which she spoke about her career experiences, highs and lows and her journey here at Hamilton High.

Here at Hamilton High School, we have a large and talented team of staff. Amongst these staff members is Mrs.Butler. Mrs.Butler is a math teacher here at Hamilton. She teaches Geometry and Algebra 2 and has been for the past 15 years. Yesterday afternoon I interviewed her, and here is what she had to say.

I asked her what she believes are the most rewarding parts of being a teacher and she said, “ The most rewarding part of being a teacher are those “aha” moments which lead those students towards success.” As a teacher, observing a classroom is something they do the most. Over her teaching years, Mrs.Butler has noticed that students have changed as technology has. These changes have impacted the way that they learn, through their communication, attention span and typing skills. 

A thing that she has learned from her students herself, would be patience. She says her students have taught her to view situations from various perspectives. When asked if she didn’t teach math, what would she teach and why, she said she would be an elementary school teacher. Mrs.Butler loves elementary school for the fact that the curriculum is structured in such a way that many subjects can be intergenerational.

 I asked her what she saw as her students’ strengths and weaknesses overall. Her response was that seeing students wanting to learn and succeed is a great strength, because “they are resilient and have the capability to bounce back in so many unbelievable situations”; a weakness that she has seen in them as a group would be, their tendency to be codependent, since they want to be told new information rather than learning and discovering it for themselves. 

During the school year, there are many times where students get immensely stressed and overwhelmed. These same emotions apply to teachers as well. I asked her what the most stressful time of year was for her, and she said, “Usually at the end of a quarter, trying to get ready for the next quarter, complete grades, work with students, add meetings on top of that.” It’s safe to say that she as well as other teachers are equally worn out at the end of quarters as much as students are. 

Lastly I asked her if she ever saw herself not teaching math at Hamilton High, but rather a different subject. “Nope, I love my career, I love Hamilton,” was what she had to say. Hamilton High must be very grateful to have such amazing staff members like Mrs.Butler and her students are most probably equally grateful as well.