Angelann Stephens is an American Literature teacher at McIntosh High School, joining the faculty this year.
She was an undergrad at University of North Carolina in Charlotte, and then went on to get her masters degree in English from North Carolina State University, but wasn’t sure about what exactly she wanted to pursue.
According to Stephens, she majored in chemical engineering, but ended up not wanting to go down that path. Stephens shared how she has always loved data and coding. Interning at Georgia Tech in college, Stephens loved working independently without any distraction from anybody else. She enjoys the idea of working by herself.
“Although it gets lonely sometimes, I loved working at my own pace and working in a quiet atmosphere,” Stephens said.
Although ultimately deciding not to go into that field of work, because the pay was not ideal, Stephens decided to start teaching literature. According to Stephens, she has always been good at literature. Stephens started teaching in 2001, first working with middle school students.
” Middle school students are much more enthusiastic, and still have the love of school that high school does not seem to have.” Stephens said.
Stephens expressed how she loves teaching high school, but there are downsides to both.
“High school just doesn’t have as much energy,” Stephens said.
According to Stephens, she does love working in high school though, as she has been doing that the majority of her teaching career.
“I love teaching literature, but it can be very stressful at times” Stephens said.
Working mostly at night to grade papers and read essays can get exhausting, and sometimes it can be hard to have motivation, but she doesn’t let the stress stop her. Although she has very many interests, Stephens expressed feeling the call to work in teaching.
“I really do love teaching literature at McIntosh High School,” Stephens said.