The ‘21-‘22 school year has seen a lot of new teachers, and one particular teacher is Dr. Ricki McKee, who teaches Probability and Statistics/Trigonometry, Algebra II Honors, and Math 7. 

McKee attended college at Purdue University where she gained her PhD in mathematics and Education. “I started out in pre-pharmacy school at Purdue, and I had a scholarship. [Purdue] was short on tutors so I volunteered, and it was like my own little classroom and I loved it! I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do and major in next semester,’ and the rest is history,” McKee explained. Soon after, McKee became a student teacher at West Side in the fall of 2004. 

Preparation: Dr. McKee sits patiently at her desk preparing lesson plans for her incoming class. With the challenge of having to teach different levels of students, McKee has found it difficult to adjust to the sudden change in lessons. “I enjoy all my students, but it’s been a bit of a stretch with the different grade levels,” McKee said.

Prior to teaching at West Side, McKee had taught at Harrison High School as a trigonometry teacher where she was able to ease into teaching and gain more experience. “This summer I decided it was time for a change. I had been teaching at another school for about 15 years, and it was time for something different,” McKee said. 

Noticing a job opening at West Side, McKee took a leap of faith and applied. “I had been at Harrison for a while and did all I could there, and I thought, ‘Let me try somewhere else.’ I knew West Side had an opening, so I applied not knowing if I was going to take it or not. I hadn’t even finished the application and I got a call about an interview. I went in for the interview, it went really well and I just felt very comfortable,” McKee said.

So far, McKee has been teaching at West Side for six weeks, and in that time she’s been able to get comfortable with her peers at West Side. “Good, very good. Everyone’s very nice, supportive, and respectful, and the students are great. I’m really enjoying it,” McKee said. 

Check Your Knowledge; Dr. McKee has her seventh grade math students line up at the board to challenge each other with their math skills. After having taught younger students before, McKee has found that this is the best way for students to utilize what they’ve learned. “[Teaching younger students] has been a bit of a challenge, but I enjoy the challenge,” McKee said.