A New Face in History - Ms. Defee
Daisy Raghavendra, Freshman Writer
It is no surprise that Casady gets many new teachers every year. The school is growing, and so are the people. One new face this year was that of Ms. Gemma Defee-Cooper, who came here to teach freshman global history and, hopefully, some senior-level courses in the near future.
When asked what made Ms. Defee want to teach at Casady, she replied that she had taught at several colleges for 5 years, and had been in public schools for the last 11 years. “I was ready for a change, and Casady is one of those places that gave me an opportunity to expand the material I was covering, but also to be a little bit broader in the way I teach so we can go more in depth in regards to the content, projects and the different materials that we’re covering,” she recalled.
Ms. Defee has taught many subjects, including Composition 1 and 2 (English 1 and 2), AP English Literature, and freshman literature. “I taught AP Government and Politics, and then I also taught Intro to Psychology and AP Psychology,” she explained. “So I’m all over the place!”
She further plans to teach senior seminars, such as Psychology, and in-depth Oklahoma history, as well as making some of them available to juniors.
Ms. Defee has enjoyed teaching at Casady so far, and so far has enjoyed it here. “I think the kids here are great,” she shares. “I think [they] are slammed with courseload, but [they] are also completely capable of doing it… So it’s been great!”
However, like any new teacher, teaching somewhere new can be different from what they are used to. In regards to her opinion on how Casady varies from past schools she has taught at, Ms. Defee replied, “It’s completely different. The nice thing about [Casady] being an independent school is [that] they're able to set the curriculum in the way that they want, and I feel like it is… advantageous for those of you who are on a solid career path for college because it is setting you up to succeed.”
That brings us to the question: what does Ms. Defee’s future here at Casasy look like? “I have no plans to go anywhere else!” Ms. Defee plans on developing the Global History class, creating building blocks for success for freshmen as they move along in sophomore, junior, and senior year; especially considering teaching freshmen, it is very important to have a strong foundation as they move forward in highschool and their future. She also plans on developing several seminars that not only did she want to teach but that she thinks the students would find interesting to take, “Because what's the point of teaching something that’s not fun?”
