Though from a family of educators, Emily Ward didn’t necessarily think she’d be following in the footsteps of her mother and grandparents.
“For the longest time – my mother is a teacher, but I never thought that was going to be me,” the Destrehan High graduate said. “But I was talking to my dad one night and he says, you know you used to line your stuffed animals up and you would make me sit with you and teach us lessons. And I remembered that … and in my sophomore year, that’s when I really realized OK, this is something I’d like to do.”
She’s on her way. Ward has earned a Louisiana pre-educator pathway advanced certification and interned at Harry Hurst Middle School. Her mother, Stefanie, is Destrehan High School’s Career Development Facilitator, and prior to that taught English at Destrehan. Ward’s grandparents also taught in St. Charles Parish.
Ward hopes to be a third-generation educator within her home district and said she would ultimately love to teach at her alma mater of Destrehan as well. As it stands now, she is a fourth-generation Destrehan graduate.
“That’s the goal,” Ward said. “I’d love to go back to Destrehan to teach because I had such an amazing experience there. I had a lot of impactful teachers and I want to bring that to a generation of students.”
She’s headed to Southeastern in secondary English education.
“My mother would tell me stories about how she would teach English and they would reenact plays … I want to make English like that. I really want to make it a fun environment and make kids excited to come into my classroom to learn,” Ward said.
One thing she said she’s learned already is the discipline it takes to teach. Ward also credits her mother for being a very helpful and willing coach through it all.
“I’d talk about some of the things I was experiencing with my internship and she definitely coached me through it,” said Ward. “She advised me on things like how to interact with my students and get them engaged. I’ve learned a whole lot from her and I’m excited to learn a whole lot more from her as I go into the classroom.”
She’s also drawn plenty of inspiration from Mom.
“When we’d be at events together, she would have students walk up to her and be like, ‘That was my English teacher.’ And then even talking to my own teachers who worked alongside my mother, they would say, ‘Your mother is amazing – she was a really amazing teacher and I know you’re going to be one too,’” said Ward.
Ward completed the Educator’s Rising program, where she learned the ins and outs of being a teacher – how to read curriculum and structure a lesson plan – and also got classroom
experience at Harry Hurst, that internship established through the program.
“You learn a lot of patience,” said Ward. “I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I like connecting with that age group.”
During her time at Destrehan, Ward was a member of National English Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society, Art Club and Beta Club.
The Art Club at Destrehan opened during her sophomore year – an exciting time for Ward, who counts art among her major hobbies.
“I’ve always just loved to paint, or to have something up and just sketch it for fun,” Ward said. “And that turned into doing it a lot. I’d be like, I saw this picture, and so I painted it for you and now I’m going to give it to you as a present. And whenever I see people react to the paintings I give them, it just really warms my heart.”
