Born to teach

Many new teachers have joined us this year to bring fresh, different ideas to the table. One of those is world history teacher Kristen Mayfield. Wingspan sat down with Mayfield recently to find out more about her.

Wingspan: Why did you decide to teach at at this campus, and where are you from originally?

Mayfield: “I taught at Frisco High School last year and I switched to Liberty because I wanted to teach World History and I was teaching Geography over at Frisco.”

Wingspan: What was the defining moment in your life when you realized you wanted to be a teacher?

Mayfield: “My mom is a teacher, my sister teaches, and my grandma’s a principal, so it was kind of in my blood.”

Wingspan: If you could give one piece of advice to your students, what would it be?

Mayfield: “Don’t stress out too much if you don’t know what to do with your life. I worked in marketing and then I switched to teaching and someday I might do something else, so don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to do just yet.”

Wingspan: What do you hope your students will take from learning about history?

Mayfield: “Why it is important to learn about history, mostly so we don’t repeat the same mistakes and try to understand how we got to where we are today.”

Wingspan: In your opinion, what does our school have that most high schools don’t?

Mayfield: “I think it here the different groups of kids seem to mix together. They don’t have cliques that are completely separate.”

Wingspan: What has been the most difficult thing to adjust to since you’ve been here?

Mayfield: “I’m also teaching Government this year, so adjusting to teaching two subjects is something I haven’t done before.”

Wingspan: What type of student were you in high school?

Mayfield: “I was a good student. I took mostly Pre-AP and AP classes and for the most part I listened to my teachers.”

Wingspan: Do you plan on staying at this campus for a while?

Mayfield: “I hope so! I like it here so far, so my goal is to stay here for a while.”

Wingspan: Have you ever wanted to pursue a different career?

Mayfield: “Yeah, I majored in a different career, I’m always open. I love teaching, but in 10 or 20 years I may decide I want to do something else. You never know where life is going to lead you.”