There’s a new face in House 2 these days. Ms. Katie Granstaff is the new English IV teacher. Many people don’t know about her, because she came just right before Christmas, so we want to get the word out in order to give her a Mustangs welcome. She’s new, she’s excited, and she wants to make a difference in her students’ lives.

She attended Marshall County High School, but she also participated in the Middle College program at WKCTC during her junior and senior years. She ran track in her sophomore year, and played the mellophone in the school marching band. She went on to attend Murray State University, where she double majored in English and Spanish. She never expected to become a teacher, she says, as she came from a family of teachers, but as she participated in more and more after-school programs and tutoring programs for high school students, she realized this was where she was meant to be.

Two teachers inspired her career decision further: her freshman English teacher and her college Spanish professor. Her English teacher, she said, showed a vested interest in her students as people, and that’s something she hopes to do with her own students. “When they’re done with their work, I’ll walk around the room and talk to my students about their personal hobbies and interests.” She believes that getting to know her students is a major step in truly making an impact in their lives. That’s one of her main goals, she says. “I want to do for them what that English teacher did for me.”

She’d never taken Spanish before college, but her professor was an important part of her earning a degree in the language. “She would always teach to our level of proficiency, and took the time to make sure we got it. And she’d always make herself available. We were able to email her and she would shoot an email right back.” She says that teachers showing their students that they are a priority makes them want to learn.

Music, she says, has also always been a big part of her life. As well as playing mellophone for marching band, she also played French horn for her church. One of her favorite traditions at Murray is All Campus Sing, which is where all the residential colleges and clubs get together for a performance. She sings frequently and enjoys all types of music, especially country. Her entire family is musical, she says, so she was “very much born into it.”

As for advice for the college, she suggests not taking the small class sizes in high school for granted. In college, students often don’t get one-on-one with their professors. As for upperclassmen advice, she has this to say: “Even though you know graduation is only a few months away, you have to keep working.”

Ms. Granstaff has called working at McCracken County High School “a dream come true”. She has many goals that she’s set for her teaching career, and she’s ambitious and determined enough to achieve all of them. If you see her around, make sure to shake her hand, introduce yourself, and welcome her home.