Literature Teacher Susan Stokley prepares to leave TJ, and move on to the next level.
Photo by Ed Gloor
According to Literature Teacher Susan Stokley, high school is a person’s last chance to push her boundaries with a safety net underneath. It can be seen as a time when a student gains his identity, learns to understand worth as an individual, and develop voice. For six years, Stokley has been helping students find their voice, and has recently decided to take her love of teaching to Metropolitan State College of Denver (Metro).
During her years at TJ, Stokley has always shown immense dedication toward the teaching of literature, while still finding time to become involved in numerous TJ causes, as well as furthering her education. “I’ve been a National Springboard trainer and Department Chair; I’ve sponsored clubs and been involved in extracurricular activities,” said Stokley. “During the course of that time, I also finished my Masters Degree at CU Denver in English Education, which is really the thing that has enabled me to go on to do what I’m doing in college.”
With activities, clubs, and her own education on her plate, Stokley eventually loosened her schedule in order to put more time into her teaching of an AP class. “I did Student Council for the first three years I was here, and then it just got to be a little bit too much, especially with AP and all of the other writing focuses we had shifted to in the English department,” said Stokley. “We also lost a lot of teachers along the way, so with that added workload I really felt that it’d be better for me to spend my time actually giving students feedback on their writing in a timely manner, rather than sponsoring a club.”
Now ready to embark on a new journey to a new level of education, Stokley feels that TJ has prepared her to take the next step. “I feel like I’m a better teacher now,” said Stokley. “I’ve actually developed through my many opportunities here to learn a lot of different things, and put those things into practice. TJ has taught me tolerance and patience. This is very important because you’re dealing with human elements. Humans are funky creatures, and as a teacher, you need to be tolerant of that.”
Always interested in the funky element that is humanity, Stokley describes literature as an archive of this very aspect. “’Why do I like literature is an easy question, why does anyone like literature?” said Stokley. “Literature is a record of human experience, from the dawn of time; from the very first written word to now. It records our thoughts, our feelings, what’s going on historically, politically, economically, socially, in all different ways. And they’re shown in these really fun stories to read. Sorry [Government Teacher Jon Poole], but the Bill of Rights is not so fun to read. Tale of Two Cities? Way funner. And yes, I did say ‘funner’ as an English teacher.”
Much of the fun that Stokley enjoys in literature can be found through some of her favorite books, including The Great Notion by Ken Kesey. “This is a story of a logging family during a strike in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s definitely in my top five,” said Stokley. “There’s also, of course, Hamlet, which is probably the greatest piece of writing ever. If I were stuck on a desert island, and I was limited to the number of books I could bring, I would probably end up taking the complete works of Chaucer, the complete works of Shakespeare, and some of the works of Robertson Davies, who is also quite prolific.”
Not only has Stokley found enjoyment through reading, but she says she has also grown, flourished as an individual, and even developed her method of teaching through her love of literature. “Literature has made me more articulate, more worldly, more sophisticated, and it’s made me realize that humanity is probably one of the most ridiculous species in the animal kingdom,” said Stokley. “This is because we run around flailing ourselves in one direction or another, trying to constantly improve and be better than we really basically are. In literature, it’s been proven; basic human nature always wins out. This is shown by the fact that kids are kids. We forget that sometimes as teachers. They aren’t little robots who come quietly into your room, have a seat, and manufacture beautiful pieces of writing for you, astounding differential equations, or beautiful lab write-ups. They’re students. Because we are human, because we are all fallible, and because they are learning how to be human adults. We need to respect that and give them the space that they both desire and crave.”
Indeed Stokley has developed great respect for the students at TJ, describing the student body as one of her favorite aspects of the school. “We have a completely diverse range of students; not just in race, ethnicity, or culture, but also in socioeconomics. We have some very wealthy students who go here, and we have some very non-wealthy students who go here,” said Stokley. “I really think that class distinctions are not even existent here at TJ; I don’t think there are rich kids walking around flaunting the fact that they can drive a BMW to school like some of the other schools down this way.”
Stokley believes not only that the student community excels at TJ, but also that TJ has advantages over other schools due to its location and good intentions. “I really like TJ because it is kind of the school at the back of beyond, if you will. We’re lost down here in the midst of the south-quadrant of the district, so we’ve done a lot of really good work here on our own, I think, because of our own intentions,” said Stokley. “We haven’t been told to do good work, and we haven’t been targeted by some other schools in the district as regards to their work. Because of this, I really feel like, as a teacher, we’ve really been able to focus on what’s best for our kids and not what serves the interest of the district at large.”
Soon to leave the district to teach at Metro, Stokley anticipates her upcoming career. “I am going to be teaching three classes at Metro. Two of these classes will be Freshman Literature, the other will be Intro to Composition,” said Stokley. “I want to accomplish the same thing there as I do at TJ; to impart a love of literature and writing, and to get my students ready for college level work. Writing analytically is also very important. I want my literature students to be well grounded in the aspect of human nature; people and characters.”
While looking forward to her upcoming career, Stokley doesn’t forget to look back at the school that got her to where she is today. “I will miss my colleagues here. I will miss the students,” said Stokley. “Sandra Just has given me a lot of opportunities to really hone my skills, and do my own thing in the classroom. However, I’m not going to miss having to wake up at five o’clock every morning.”
