Teacher profile: Katherine Bell

Teacher+profile%3A+Katherine+Bell

Agriculture is an integral part of Madison County, and MCHS’s agriculture classes are among some of the most popular. We are lucky to have people like Ms. Bell to teach the younger generation things about agriculture. With FFA Week coming up, we thought we would focus on Katherine Bell. Those who know Bell know that she is a very kind person who loves to tell stories. I am so glad I got an opportunity to interview her and know more about her. Here are some things we discussed: 

 

How long have you been a teacher?  

“This is my 9th year teaching and I have actually taught all 9 years here at Madison County High School.”

What inspired you to teach? 

“Both of my grandmothers were teachers. My mom’s mom taught math, and she taught math in a high school that had all of the grades in 1 math class at one time. My other grandmother, my dad’s mom, was an elementary school teacher and also a counselor at the elementary school. I guess I really remember how she told me that teaching was kind of more of a calling than it was a job. She would have students that would get off the bus, ride their bike 5 or 6 miles and come. Her kitchen door was never locked. They would come into her carport and they would be like, ‘Hi Mrs.Bell’ And she would say ‘Hi sug, take a seat and get out your homework.’ She would fix supper, and would always fix it for like 2 or 3 extra kids. If they showed up she would help them with their homework, feed them and send them home. My dad was an Ag teacher and I think that’s actually why I wanted to be an Ag teacher because of him. I got to see how he changed students’ lives and I thought that was pretty special.” 

What makes you passionate about the agricultural experience?

“I am not what we would call a traditional Ag student. I wasn’t raised on a farm, I did not grow up in an agricultural setting. The closest I got to ag was my dad was an Ag teacher and a family friend raised chickens. I would help clean out chicken houses on Saturdays. But watching how my dad made connections between Agriculture and real-life situations, or Agriculture and math. I mean I struggled with math all the time and all of a sudden math that I was learning in pre-calculus was being applied in my forestry class and I thought that was pretty cool. So when I graduated high school I had decided that I wanted to go get a forestry degree because I really love that, but my ultimate goal was that I wanted to go and teach.” 

Do you have any pets? 

“I do have pets. I have a dog named Lotie. She is a Black Lab, Pitbull mix, and she thinks she is a princess and queen of the roast. The cat who, don’t laugh at this name, is Kitty Meow. When my sister and I found her, we named her Kitten because we didn’t think we were going to keep her. We thought we were going to rehabilitate her and find her a home. Then my mom was like ‘You can not keep calling this adult cat kitten’, so my sister started calling her Kitty Meow. She just ended up staying. But yes, I love animals.”

Do you have any hobbies?

“Absolutely. You have to have hobbies for life to be fun. I get home late, but I do have hobbies. I am a little bit of a nerd, I like to read. Before I started teaching I would read a book every week, every two weeks depending on how long the book was. As a teacher, I am probably good to get excited if I finish a book in a month or two. I love reading. I really like hiking. I have been to a lot of cool places in Georgia hiking. There are a lot of cool places to see, and I like to see it all. I also like movies. Like if I am going to watch TV, I would rather watch a movie.”

What is your Dunkin’ order? 

“Typically it’s kind of funny. Typically when I am at Dunkin’ Doughnuts, it’s because I am there working with a former student. That’s just because it’s the easiest place for us to meet and I can feed him a doughnut and give him some coffee so he would focus and we work on his interview stuff. Then I have a friend who really likes Dunkin’ Doughnuts, so when we go places that’s where she wants to go. My Dunkin’ order is kind of weird. I love Munchkins. I love all the Munchkins except for the blueberry ones, but I like blueberry doughnuts. That’s a weird thing. I always get some Munchkins and then I either get Iced Coffee with 2 pumps of French Vanilla Swirl or Unsweet Tea. Depending upon how many doughnuts I plan to eat because that’s a lot of sugar.”

I think that’s pretty cool because when we think of leaders, we think of people who are in the front and are leading from the front. But I like how the wolf leads from the back in a quiet, unassuming way.

— Katherine Bell

What would you say your spirit animal is and why? 

“I really like to think that my spirit animal is a wolf because I really, really appreciate how wolves lead their packs. The Alpha is pretty cool. If you ever pay attention to a wolf pack and how the Alpha leads, he doesn’t lead from the front, he leads from behind because he can see everybody at the same time. A wolf pack when they travel; the older wolves lead the pack because they set the pace, the younger wolves tend to be kind of there behind them because the older wolves tend to keep them in line, and then you have you Beta who are usually in the middle watching stuff. Then you have your pups and moms, and at the very end is the Alpha. The Alpha is watching everybody’s back. I think that’s pretty cool because when we think of leaders, we think of people who are in the front and are leading from the front. But I like how the wolf leads from the back in a quiet, unassuming way.”

What is your favorite thing about teaching? 

“Not to sound like a stereotypical teacher, but my favorite thing about teaching is definitely my students. I don’t think I would be willing to get up in the morning and face a long, long day, and face the challenges without them. Not everybody is going to have a good day, not everybody who walks into your room is going to have a perfect day. Meeting a student where they are at and trying to build relationships with them and letting them know that they have somebody in their corner – that’s what makes me want to get up and keep doing this.” 

Meeting a student where they are at and trying to build relationships with them and letting them know that they have somebody in their corner – that’s what makes me want to get up and keep doing this.

— Katherine Bell

What is an interesting fact that students would be surprised to learn about you? 

“Out of all of these, that is probably the hardest question. I feel like I am an open book because I use what I do and what I have done as stories to go along with what I am teaching in my Ag classes. I mean I don’t think anybody would be surprised to know this, but I am not very good at sports but I love baseball. Baseball is my favorite sport. Most people in the South like football, but I just like baseball.”

What is your favorite memory about teaching?

“I think my favorite memory about teaching has been getting to see my students succeed in something they really enjoy doing or getting them to try something new that might be a little bit scary. I had a young man a couple of years ago that the only reason he was in school was because of Ag classes. He probably would have dropped out of school at 16, but he filled out what we call a Proficiency Award, it’s like an SAE on steroids. He actually won the area and the state, and he didn’t think that it would ever happen. Things like that, I don’t think it’s one moment, I think it’s lots of little moments that are my favorite.”