Delaney McDonald and Chloe Harris, Staff Writers Mr. Arrington is all the buzz around middle school. He has been assisting Mrs. Henderson as a student teacher, and he's doing a fabulous job. Starting next year, he will be the official math teacher for sixth grade. The students are sad to see Mrs. Henderson leave, but the rising middle schoolers will love Mr. Arrington’s enthusiasm for teaching. Mr. Arrington is a student teacher here at NCS. Before coming to the middle school hallway, he helped Mr. Shoaf teach his Algebra II/Trig and Honors Precalculus classes. Mr. Arrington was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. He attended Norfolk Christian from Kindergarten through twelfth grade, which made him one of the “senior survivors”. Then, he went to college at Liberty University, a Christian liberal arts institution. During his childhood, he had dreams of becoming a chemist, an engineer, and even a drumming pastor! Photos by Lily Strickland; Students can count on Mr. Arrington to answer any questions that they may have. While discussing his job aspirations, Mr. Arrington concluded: “I decided to be a teacher because of a class at Norfolk Christian called Life Calling. That class had me assess my giftings and interests, and I realized that working with youth and helping the next generation was something I am called to do. So I decided to teach.” Mr. Arrington describes himself as solemn and reserved, but when he opens up to his classes, he’s joyful and witty. His favorite verse is 1 John 3:1-3 because, according to him, “it paints a great picture of the grandeur and vastness of God's love and how we have the privilege to be His children. He is our eternal Father and I find great solace in that.” Mr. Arrington’s insight and close relationship with God will undoubtedly inspire his future students. If you ever see Mr. Arrington in the hallway, be sure to give him a warm welcome into the school’s faculty.
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Natalie Duckworth, Staff Writer Mrs. Kelly may be relatively new to Norfolk Christian, given that it is only her second year here, but the school’s Honors 10 English and AP Literature teacher has quickly become one of the most beloved members of the staff. Mrs. Kelly was born into an Italian family with a Catholic mother and Lutheran father. She began her journey as a Christian when she was baptized as a baby at only one month old. She says that her family values their faith and connection to the church. She went to a Christian school for elementary through high school. Similarly, her husband worked as an altar server and spent his summers helping to clean the church when he was young. Mrs. Kelly grew up in Northern Virginia but then moved to the Hampton Roads area because she has a lot of family here. Photo by Lily Strickland; There's a bulletin board of literary memes behind Mrs. Kelly's desk, appropriately titled "To Meme or Not to Meme?" When asked about her time in high school, Mrs. Kelly expressed that unlike other students, she loved high school. In fact, she met all of her closest friends in high school. She played varsity basketball and softball, but after a shoulder injury, she decided to turn her interests toward the drama department. She studied theater and English while attending Mary Washington College. She spoke about her personality during that period of her life: “I’ve never been a rule follower. My nickname was ‘riot girl.’ My facade was that I was a feminist, punk rock girl, arguing with teachers about things. Everyone has their little facade in high school.” Mrs. Kelly decided to pursue teaching English due to her love for studying literature, listening to other people’s stories, and telling her own. She describes language as being an “art of words” and says that, “I feel like I cannot draw, I can’t really dance, I can sing, but writing is my kind of art.” Mrs. Kelly also shared that she wants to transform the mindset of people who may have little interest in reading or writing. She hopes that her students can share their stories through creative writing such as poetry. Mrs. Kelly previously taught at Ocean Lakes in Virginia Beach and later moved to Christ the King, a Catholic School located in Norfolk. After driving past Norfolk Christian, she thought about how she wished she could teach closer to home. Her kids attended the Tab Church daycare, and Mrs. Pasini, the director of the daycare, encouraged Mrs. Kelly to teach at Norfolk Christian. She described her transition to NCS: “The pandemic made me move schools, and everyone came over. It was perfect, the perfect fit. It was God’s divine providence. Everything just sort of fell into place.” While she loves her current job as a teacher, Mrs. Kelly thinks that being a midwife would be an interesting career as well. Everyone in her family is a part of the medical profession, other than herself and her sister. She even had a friend try once to get her to become a doula! She also thinks that a job that specializes in holistic or wellness practices would be fun to have, such as an esthetician. Photo by Lily Strickland; Due to her study of theater in college, Mrs. Kelly is very knowledgeable about the Shakespeare plays that she teaches. You can definitely catch her performing some of the monologues with true Shakespearean passion! Mrs. Kelly also narrated some of her most interesting experiences as a teacher, including the time that she lost a Saudi Princess during a field trip at the Washington DC Spy Museum. She realized that she was missing someone after taking a count of her students. One of her students exclaimed that the Saudi Princess had gone shopping across the street! Mrs. Kelly frantically ran across the street in traffic and thought she was going to be on the news because she lost a princess. Once she found her, the princess nonchalantly said, “Oh, I thought we were done.”
In addition to sharing so many interesting stories, she reflected on her favorite book to teach: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. What she finds the most interesting is the way that Hurston was able to preserve her stories and life as a black woman during the Jim Crow era. She also enjoys Hurston’s beautiful writing, which blends prose narration and southern dialect. Hurston recounts slave narratives and songs in her book. Mrs. Kelly describes the tone of the book: “It has some intense parts, but it is not depressing. Sad things happen, but it doesn’t make you depressed after.” Not only does Mrs. Kelly love to teach Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is also one of her favorite books to read, as well as The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Overall, she has enjoyed her time at NCS, expressing that she loves the community here, especially her fellow teachers. |