More Than Teaching: Kennedi Baker, Social Studies Department
Growing up in Columbus, Indiana, Kennedi Baker always aspired to be a teacher. She was particularly inspired by her middle and high school teachers to pursue a career in education. However, it was her eighth-grade history teacher, Ms. Martin, who had a significant impact on her life and career.
“[When I was] in eighth grade, my mom passed away. Ms. Martin was my only teacher who sat me down and asked how I was doing as a person,” Baker said. [She] cared about how I was doing as an individual, not just as a student who needs to get their homework done in class. When thinking about what I wanted to do as a career, I wanted to have a similar impact.”
Baker attended Indiana University, where she majored in secondary social studies and education. At IU, she was heavily involved in student life, serving as a campus tour guide, coordinating new student orientation, and participating in the education honors society, among other activities.
Baker is also an avid basketball fan, especially of the IU women’s basketball team. She noted the IU vs. Iowa game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in 2023 as one of her favorite IU memories.
Prior to teaching U.S. history and Advanced Placement U.S. history at Bloomington South, Baker was a student teacher at Bloomington North.
In terms of Baker’s goals for her teaching experience, she said, “I want to be able to create a productive and inclusive learning environment. I want my classroom to be somewhere that students want to come. I genuinely want to create a positive impact in people’s lives. Whoever it is, whether it’s one student, whether it’s [every student], I want to be able to positively impact someone in whatever ways that I can.”
Coast To Coast: John O’Reilly, Science Department
Growing up just outside Philadelphia, John O’Reilly initially set out to become a veterinarian. He attended the University of Delaware, starting with an animal science major before ultimately earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. However, after working at a veterinary clinic, he realized it wasn’t the right path for him.
O’Reilly then moved to the West Coast, where he worked various jobs, taught in outdoor schools, and even became a wilderness ranger. After obtaining his teaching license, he began work at a project-based school in San Diego.
“I was a pretty avid environmentalist and I started to realize that I wanted to help kids think about the world’s issues and be able to be critical thinkers about making the world a better place and solving the problems that I kept seeing arise,” O’Reilly said.
Following this realization, O’Reilly decided to pursue a master’s degree in education at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Since then, he has taught in many schools around the world, educating students in Advanced Placement physics, integrated chemistry and physics, earth science; and various engineering classes.
“The big project that I did for an environmental science class [in San Diego] that I was teaching was we developed a community garden,” he said.
“I taught all of my environmental science through the lens of creating a community garden. That community garden’s still going, which is great, even though I don’t get to eat the vegetables anymore,” he added with a smile.
Reflecting on his experience at Bloomington South so far, O’Reilly said,“I feel like I’m still very new here and trying to get to know the place. I love how welcoming everyone has been. I feel like it’s very easy to develop nice relationships with students here. I feel like everyone’s very respectful and kind. Overall, I just find everyone to be very accepting of the diversity of people and ideas and I love being here.”
Bloomington Born: Maggie Piercy, Language Arts Department
New English teacher Maggie Piercy is a Bloomington native who has lived in the city for the majority of her life. Piercy attended Bloomington North, where she“fell in love with [her] English classes.” While she was a Cougar, she was one of 200 students in Indiana to receive the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship, a competitive scholarship for top-performing high school and college students who are planning to teach in Indiana for at least five years.
“I’ve always kind of known I wanted to be a teacher, but when I was a kid I [obviously] didn’t really know specific details. I just liked school. So I was like, well, if I [become] a teacher I get to be in school forever, which probably sounds crazy to most students,” she laughed, “but I just really liked learning.”
Piercy went on to attend Purdue University where she majored in English education and Classical Studies. She then student-taught at William Henry Harrison High School in Lafayette, where she taught 10th-grade English and second-level ENL classes.
“Everyone [has gone] out of their way to welcome me [at South] and make sure that I’m doing okay. I just feel like the school has a good energy,” Piercy said.
