Mrs. Payne has been teaching at Gateway for seven years now, but is expanding her role in the Gateway community starting next year with the new course, AP World History! This year, she teaches US History II and World History to primarily freshmen and juniors.
AP World will consist primarily of freshmen and seniors, and those who signed up are just as thrilled to begin!
Interestingly, Spencer and I will be taking the class together! Oh boy. He will be a freshman, and I will be a senior, so there is quite a gap there. If you know Spencer, you know he can be the class clown. Hopefully, most of his cracks won’t be at my expense. Wish us luck!
Gateway days can be long and laborious on occasion, but one thing Mrs. Payne always looks forward to hearing about her students’ lives. She loves that there is, “never a boring day and every day is different.”
Mrs. Payne’s ultimate favorite aspect of Gateway is the sense of community that is felt. Because Gateway is so small, it is easier to get to know a large percentage of students and staff on a deeper level than possible at a larger school. This sense of community is extremely beneficial to both students and staff and makes for a more positive experience on both ends.
Gearing up for next year, Mrs. Payne is so excited to teach AP World! She shared:
“I am excited to explore topics more in depth and be able to share my passion for history with students who will appreciate it.”
Rising senior Emmalin Lawrence shared, “I’m looking forward to talking about actual world history instead of just the United States, as we have been learning about for the past two years.”
Emmalin is an avid history buff and shared that Hamilton and Night at the Museum were two of the biggest reasons why!
Mrs. Payne has this piece of advice for incoming freshmen jumping into AP next year:
“Don’t be afraid if you’re not immediately successful. AP is about long term goals, so you may not be great at it immediately,” she continues, “Stick with it even if it is hard; it will be amazing for you!”
Outside of school, Mrs. Payne loves music, video games, and reading. She has been to 150 concerts! She loves Fleetwood Mac and the Grateful Dead the most. Here’s a fun fact, Mrs. Payne’s sister is also a teacher here at Gateway! Can you guess who? It’s Mrs. Buehler, an eighth grade English teacher! It must be awesome to get to share a profession and school with a sibling!
We are so glad that Mrs. Payne is a member of the Gateway community, and we wish her the best of luck teaching AP World next year! We’re positive that it will be great! Thank you, Mrs. Payne, for taking this on!
(And I promise to keep him in line!) 😉
