In order to help her history class prepare for their test over Civilizations of the Americas, Kaitlyn King demonstrated part of a Mesoamerican ball game by attempting a 10-pointer with a rubber ball. She scored a double win: she both made the shot and helped her sixth graders remember the concepts.

Kaitlyn King has been at St. John’s for nine years. During her first five years, she taught seventh graders world history. Junior Reese Williams, who is currently taking AP United States History, had King during COVID in seventh grade.

“She gave really good feedback and she made sure that class activities were engaging even when we were online,” Williams said. “That was one of the classes that made me realize that I really like history.”

Four years ago, the School switched the seventh grade curriculum to US history and moved the World Cultures curriculum to sixth grade. King decided to move grades along with the subject. She has noticed some differences between sixth and seventh graders.

“Sixth graders have one foot still in childhood and one foot in adolescence. So they’re still really excited about learning and they’re not as self-conscious,” King said. “And then there’s this other side to them where they’re starting to grapple with tough, abstract concepts that just make teaching them so interesting. There’s never a day when I’m bored.”

King, former history teacher Anna Thomas, and current history teachers Holly Soley and Connally Vandiver all worked together to create the World Cultures curriculum from scratch. They created daily activities and lessons, adding in fun elements like the Mesoamerican ball game. King teaches sixth grader Lonimi Hamilton, whose favorite subject is history.

“She is clearly very interested in history and I admire that in her,” Hamilton said. “She also understands that different students have different learning styles and bases her lessons and her teaching style on what students can understand.”

Soon after she came to St. John’s, King heard from co-workers and parents who were reminiscing about the retired Study Skills course, which they said greatly helped their kids. So, King drew up a proposal to re-introduce Study Skills to the Middle School in 2021. After the proposal was approved, Academic Support Coordinator Mia Valenstein and Thomas designed the course, while King acted as one of the primary consultants and volunteered as a Study Skills instructor.

“I am a problem solver by nature. I like challenges and organizing things,” King said. “It’s my duty to share that knowledge with people because I feel that if you have a strength, you should help others.”

The Study Skills course launched in 2022 and focuses on helping students develop time management skills and study strategies, also teaching breathing exercises and brain science pertaining to emotional regulation. Sixth graders attend Study Skills once every seven days during their DaVinci period. Hamilton acknowledges that Study Skills benefited her, especially for her math midterm.

“Actually, I think the math midterm was a little bit too easy,” Hamilton said. 

King introduced another DaVinci elective four years ago: Cat Club. In this DaVinci, cat lovers worked together on cat sticker mosaics and cat themed games. Some drew pictures of cats throughout the period, while others competed for the fastest cat puzzle completion time.

“It was so popular and lovely,” King said. “It was cool because everybody found something that they loved to do and there was a great positive vibe.”

During her summers, King has experienced professional development opportunities through the Ray C. Fish Endowed Chair in History. She’s traveled to New Mexico to learn about Islam at the Dar-al-Islam Teachers’ Institute and San Francisco to attend the Learning in the Brain Conference.

“I’ve gotten to do a lot of things that I wouldn’t have gotten to do anywhere else and meet some really wonderful people,” King said. “So I’m very grateful for my time here and it’s bittersweet to leave.”

Next year, King will be working at the Annunciation Orthodox School as a Growth Program and Special Projects Coordinator, an administrative position in which she supports teachers in their professional development goals and enhances their creativity in the workplace.

“I have thought about doing a leadership role for a long time now, but I was always kind of scared to do it,” King said. “And I just started to think, you know what? I’m ready to try that.”

Annie Sharman is a Middle School science teacher who has known King for eight years. She will miss King but knows that they will remain friends “beyond the walls of St. John’s.”

“She’s my cornerstone. Not being able to immediately go find her will be an adjustment, and not seeing her every day will be the strangest thing,” Sharman said. “But I think she’s gonna be incredible at her new role, and I hope she feels very welcomed there.”

King hopes that her former St. John’s students will invite her back to support them in events like concerts and musicals — after all, she will be just down West Alabama. She wants her students to develop into good human beings and to find a true curiosity and passion for learning about different cultures. And, she has one last wish for her legacy at St. John’s.

“I hope someone continues Cat Club,” King said. “I guess it’s going to die unless a crazy cat lady teacher shows up.”