As you stroll through the science hallway, you will often see a variety of projects decorating the walls. The decorations continue with colorful murals painted on the walls inside classrooms pertaining to the class topic.
However, there is one class, tucked away at the end of the science hallway, that surpasses all rooms with an amazing myriad of colors.
Ms. Harper is the Marine Ecology teacher here at Leesville. She is in her fifth year teaching and she undoubtedly has one of the most extravagant classrooms on campus. From fish tanks to painted ceiling tiles, Ms. Harper boasts a vibrant room.
Building her classroom is a constant work in progress that requires time and money. “It started my first year of teaching. I started slowly collecting stuff and decorating. Then my second year I added more and more, now by my fifth year I just have tons of stuff,” said Ms. Harper.
Harper says all the hard work is worth it because it helps her achieve her goal of representing herself through her room “I think a classroom should reflect a teacher’s personality, and I’m very over the top I guess, and excited and energetic and I want my classroom to look that way,” said Ms. Harper.
Ms. Harper credits a great deal of her lively teaching style and classroom to her inspiration, Ms. Frizzle. “She was so energetic and fun and cool, even though she was completely fiction…If I could wear a dress everyday that corresponded to what I was teaching like she did, I totally would,” said Ms. Harper.
When you enter Ms. Harper’s you can’t miss the Ms. Frizzle inspiration.
Students love Ms. Harper’s classroom just as much as she does.“I think it’s really well decorated, and I really like that she incorporates things from her classes that she teaches into her room. It adds a lot of interest to what she is saying and she can reference things and interact with her classroom,” said Mary May, senior at LRHS.
Many of Ms. Harper’s students agree being surrounded by what they are learning makes class more enjoyable and easier. Having physical representations to reference exposes students to valuable information a poster or video can’t provide.
Harper hopes to motivate her students and other teachers through her room. She understands it’s not easy to create a room like hers; however, based off the positive response she receives from her kids, Harper would like to see other teachers spice up their rooms.
