Sonya Willie

What is your name? Where do you teach? My name is Sonya Willie, and I teach at Covington High School.

What subjects do you teach? I teach English III gifted, English III advanced placement and English IV advanced placement.

What is your favorite thing about the subjects you teach? I love teaching literature and the writing process, especially helping students build their vocabularies and express their thoughts more clearly and concisely.

How long have you been a teacher? I have been teaching secondary English in St. Tammany 14 years, and before that I taught at a junior college in Virginia.

How has the profession of teaching changed since you started? Technology has become an integral part of the classroom. When I started, I kept a written grade book, few students had no cell phones and about half of the students had Internet access. Now parents can access grades online and work with teachers to keep students on track.

Why did you become a teacher? My generation wanted to make the world a better place. I decided that teaching was the best way for me to do that. Good and caring teachers were instrumental in helping me to achieve my goals and dreams. I want to enable others the way that these individuals enabled me.

What is your favorite thing about teaching? My students and their eagerness to learn and share their thoughts. I help them with their college and scholarship applications. I like to watch them grow as writers, readers and human beings over the two years I have them in my classes.

Do you do anything special in the classroom to get through to your students? I try to get to know my students as quickly as possible. I also use humor as often as possible to engage my students.

What is the hardest part of your job? It is sometimes sad to see the obstacles that some of my students have to overcome, especially if I can not help them. The other think is the red tape and paperwork that bite into time needed to plan and help students benefit from what they have learned.

Are you involved in any extra curricular activities at the school? I co-sponsor Lions About Positive Decisions, the CHS branch of Students Against Destructive Decisions.

I am also on the Positive Behavior Support Committee, the Student of the Month Committee and the Graduation Speech Committee.

Do you utilize any special technology in the classroom? I refer to Web sites for research, college and scholarship searches; Elmo to project text so students can practice the revision process as a class; computer lab for compositions; and the students develop Power Point or multi-media presentations for their projects.

Have you received any grants to aid you in the classroom? No, but I plan to write one for a field trip next year.

What do you do during your summer vacations? I read and make lesson plans, spend time with my family, participate in professional development workshops and work in my yard.

Do you aspire to become a principal one day? I don’t ever want to leave the classroom!

What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened while you were teaching? While student teaching, a young lady brought her pet rat to school in her purse. While reading to the class, I looked up to see it running toward me at the same time the class saw it. One student was on top of her desk yelling, “Ms. Willie, Ms. Willie! There is an AAAn-imal in this room!” The other girl was yelling, “He’s mine!” as she was chasing it with her purse/pet carrier. The rodent was retrieved, and we lived to learn another day.