Krista Levely is a English teacher at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. She teaches a variety of english courses that include grade 10 academic, enriched, and applied, as well as ENG4U, and grade 12 Writer's Craft. She is also the Triune Student Council Advisor.
I never liked English class before, it was always very boring and dull and we just focused on the "rules" of poetry and grammar or just read Shakespeare and wrote a test. I was never given the time to think and be creative, until I was in Mrs. Levely grade 12 english class. It was in this class that I was truly challenged to think critically,be creative, think for myself, and go further with my writing and analysis. In my previous classes teacher's were looking for an answer that fit their definition and I would always hear the word "no" or "not quite right". In Mrs. Levely class there was never any wrong or right way to do something, she would always help us find ways or strategies to improve on what we had already written. There was much freedom to think creatively and be able to put our own thoughts on paper instead of having strict set rules. In addition, to challenging me to think more critically and creatively Mrs. Levely genuinely cared for each and everyone of her students, always ensuring each student had a safe and nurturing environment to come into, ensured everyone had access to anything they needed, and taught us with relevant material. Mrs. Levely is truly a teacher that goes above and beyond her job requirements and puts 100% into teaching and enriching her students. We were taught what was asked to be taught from the curriculum, but Mrs.Levely modified the requirements into assignments that would appeal to 17-18 year olds in the 21 century. Mrs. Levely truly inspires her students everyday to reach their full potential and follow their passions.I never felt like I was doing homework in Mrs.Levely class because we had such creative license over our assignments, allowing us to write/discuss about things that interested us. I was truly lucky to have a teacher like Mrs. Levely in high school who cared deeply for her students education and learning not just in terms of meeting the curriculum guidelines, but to truly enable students to become individuals, and not standardized their education.