Mrs. Lewis is one of the latest additions to the ever-evolving business department of Ames High, and considering the variety of courses she teaches, there’s a good chance many students will end up in her classroom. 

“I’m teaching mostly financial literacy but what you guys call personal finance… advertising and video production this semester,” said Mrs. Lewis. “Next semester… [I’ll] be teaching web design and then Microsoft certification.”

This is Mrs. Lewis’ fifth year of teaching, but she has spent much longer in the workforce. 

“My first career was in recreation. I was a recreation director for [1 year]… for a small city,” she explained. “Then I became an HR professional and that’s where I spent the majority of my time… I was in human resources for almost 13 years.”

Her time working in both recreation and human resources served as a valuable experience which eventually inspired her to enter education. 

“I wanted to make a difference at the high school level. I had been in human resources for over 12 years and I saw some skill gaps amongst young people… I wanted to maybe make their first employment experience a little bit better and to prepare them even more.”

This desire to see students succeed, both in the classroom and eventually in the job market is what drives Mrs. Lewis to connect with her students and care about each one as individuals. 

“I usually tell them this when they come in but I want students to know that first and foremost, they are the most important,” said Mrs. Lewis. “Then, eventually, we’ll get to the content.”

Admittedly, this connection is a bit harder to make with the current structure of online classes, as many students’ have both their cameras and microphones off. However, Mrs. Lewis adds that along with this struggle, there are some positive takeaways from the virtual format for her. 

“I feel like I’m more organized in my lesson planning. And… since we are such a large school… it is nice to have smaller class sizes so you can get to know the kids a little bit better.”

Mrs. Lewis’ drive to form bonds with students can perhaps best be seen in the affectionate way in which she describes her previous teaching location: Marshalltown. 

“I absolutely loved my time there,” she said. “They’re all family, the kids, the staff, the community, they all really became a great family to me.” 

As the year progresses, we hope Mrs. Lewis will find a home here in Ames High as well. She likely will, considering these words she has to share with any future students she may have. 

“I usually tell them this when they come in but I want students to know that first and foremost, they are the most important. Then, eventually, we’ll get to the content. But knowing them and having a relationship with them is the most important… to me.”