By MMACHS Staff
Among the handful of fresh faces that students will see when the 2024-2025 school year begins is the one belonging to our new social studies teacher, Ms. Abby Wood.
Starting this fall she will be taking over all underclassmen social studies classes, which include Eastern Geographical Perspectives, Honors U.S. History II, and Freshman Cornerstone.
Ms. Wood is an Idaho native and a Boise State University graduate, but she comes to MMACHS by way of North Carolina where she earned her Master's Degree at Duke University.
"I did not always know that I wanted to teach, but I did know that I wanted to be in the education world. I did speech and debate in high school and it made me think I wanted to be a lobbyist in education, or work in education policy."
But her experience in the world of politics led her to realize that the classroom is where she wanted to be.
"I interned for two senators, one was a democrat and one was a republican, and I thought ‘man I don’t like either of these offices!’ so that kinda pulled me a little out of politics." she says, "...there are crisis everywhere you look, whether it be housing or healthcare or education…or any number of things. I was just feeling kinda depressed and overwhelmed about what can I do to help, and teaching was what I landed on as far as this is where I can have my biggest impact.”
That decision eventually led her to a job in the Durham Public School system, where she spent the last two years teaching social studies at the high school level. Ms. Wood had a successful run in Durham, including being named "new teacher of the year" in her building, but ultimately her desire to return to Idaho led her to seek opportunities back home.
"I really, really missed the mountains.” she says, "I know it’s cliché but the whole ‘the mountains are calling and I must go’, that is me, I really needed to come back home. I’m a big nature person.” Additionally, the opportunity to be close to family and loved ones made returning to the Gem State an easy decision.
"My family is still in Pocatello, my youngest sister is coming to Boise State in the fall, so I’m really here to support her transitioning into college life."
Among the things Ms. Wood is excited about are the increased number of opportunities she will have to help students in her classroom.
"The resources are very different between here and North Carolina. North Carolina still has a lot of remnants of the Jim Crow south and is still very segregated" which often led to a lack of funding for basic materials in public schools.
"Out of my personal money I budgeted about $150 a month to spend on my classroom for pencils and paper. So many of my kids would show up hungry so I spent most of that budget on food…granola bars, bananas, stuff like that ... coming here and hearing that teachers are supported, students are supported, doing initiatives or field trips, bringing people into the classroom, it was really exciting to hear that there are a lot more resources here to help students learn than what I’m used to in North Carolina."
At MMACHS, she is looking forward to helping all students reach their potential. "One of my friends has really intense ADHD and is one of the smartest people I know, but he went through our schooling system thinking that he wasn't smart because the system did not fit his ability to learn or sit still. So he really is my inspiration for wanting to come into the classroom and teach to make sure that all people, all brilliant minds, have opportunities to be able to make a difference in the world."
We are thrilled to have Ms. Wood as part of the MMACHS team and can't wait for her to meet our community.
Keep an eye on this space as we continue to introduce you to the new members of our team.
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