As the Manchester High School year comes to an end, Clubs and Events wanted to highlight the hardworking staff of our school. As a Sophomore during the 2025 to 2026 school year, one of my favorite classes this year was Algebra two with Mrs. States. She’s been a great teacher and I’ve been able to learn various math topics easily with her guidance.
Mrs. States has been teaching at Manchester for 18 years, and says that she likes teaching math as it’s typically students’ least favorite subject, but she enjoys the challenge of teaching it, and watching students develop their skills in the subject and maybe like the class a bit more.
“ I do like teaching in general, specifically getting to know the students and developing a relationship. I enjoy teaching math because it’s a tough class, but I like getting to see students gain confidence and understanding of the topics and develop an enjoyable learning experience with math,” States described.
Teachers sometimes move around to different schools, and some are permanent residents at one school for a long time. I inquired about Mrs. State’s school history, and why she likes teaching at Manchester.
“ I’ve been here for 18 years. I’ve always liked the community at Manchester. The Math Department is very well knit. When I was going through hard times, my colleagues have always been supportive and understanding in and out of school. My daughter also went to Manchester so I liked getting to ride to school with her or going to school activities with her,” States stated.
With all the different job paths people can go down, it makes you wonder what made someone pick what they’re doing now. The school environment was very pleasant to Mrs. States and she would choose being a teacher for the following reasons.
“ I started out in community college wanting to be a social worker. I ended up working at a school with a boy in foster care during his elementary years. I realized that I really enjoyed the school environment so I ended up becoming a teacher. If I were to do something else, it’d likely be more medical,” States explained.
I’m so thankful that I got to be taught by Mrs. States. She’s a wonderful person and a great teacher, with true passion to teach kids math. While the 2025 to 2026 school year comes to an end, tell a teacher that you’ve truly appreciated them because we’re all human and we all share the same emotions.
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well,” Voltaire proclaims.
