Michelle Kirk is a teacher here at BHS. She first came here as a replacement for the Honors 9 English class, but she plans on coming to work here full-time next year. Despite her being a simple replacement, she now teaches 3 classes in the ELA department.

Q: How long have you been teaching, and how many of those years were at Baldwin?

“This is my 35th year teaching. As for Baldwin, I taught for three years previously at Baldwin, and coming back now, this is my 4th year.”

Q: Throughout all of your years teaching, what are some of the classes you’ve taught?

“Oh boy. What I haven’t taught would be easier. I’ve taught English 9-12, some honors, Public Speaking, Oral Communication, dual credit classes, Debate, Forensics, Creative Writing 1 and 2, some secondary education content classes at Baker, and I taught and directed Acting, that’s all I believe.”

Q: Out of those classes, what are your favorites to teach?

“Forensics is always by far the best because it allows students to have total control over what they want to focus on and allows them to push themselves as much as they want to succeed. So basically, I love any class where their performance allows them to shine.”

Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching?

“I like that no day is ever the same, and I have never been bored teaching a single day of my career, and I never quite know what to expect. I love the challenge of being in the moment and teaching what is happening in the moment of the class.”

Q: What has been your favorite learning experience while teaching?

“Oh gosh, there are so many things. I always feel like I learn more from my students than they learn from me. It pushes me to constantly evaluate how I can be better to live up to their needs. There are some things I wish I knew sooner how to be better sooner, but that’s part of the learning curve.”