Caroline Judd

Helping junior Ronik Bhaskar with an assignment, English teacher Leslie Lindsey checks Bhaskar’s work on rhetorical analysis. Bhaskar finds Lindsey attentive to her students needs. “I think as a teacher, she is very structured and organized which is good,” Bhaskar said. “It helps makes sure everyone knows what’s going on, what’s going to happen and what they need to be prepared for. After setting up the kind of system, she still works hard to makes sure every student understands.”

Former Parkway South Middle teacher Leslie Lindsey is taking on the role of the new AP Language and Composition teacher filling the shoes of English teacher Erica Rogers.

After attending Parkway Central High, Lindsey found her passion for teaching due to her influential instructors and began her journey to pursue a career in education at Northeast Middle School.

“I just love working with kids,” Lindsey said. “I think that was my initial inspiration is finding a career where I could work with children, and I had a lot of inspirational teachers in my youth including many family members who were teachers,” she said. “So it felt like a natural way to go and my love of reading and writing mixed with my love of children led me right into English teaching.”

Not only was Lindsey able to find her passion for English from her teachers in her youth, but a teacher from her household pushed her to accomplish a dream that she already had.

“I think I knew I wanted to be a teacher from my childhood growing up in a home of a teacher, I think it was a natural progression for me to grow up and become one as well,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey now has 14 years of experience as an educator and continues to apply teaching strategies that improve her students reading and writing skills.

“I think something that always works with kids is to be excited about what you’re doing and how that excitement transfers from the teachers to the kids,” Lindsey said. “My classroom is full with conversation and writing about our thinking and arguing as a way to get kids involved.”

Despite the implementation of her strategies, she still finds difficulty with students who generally are not as passionate about the subject.

“One challenge I face in my subject area is working with students who don’t enjoy reading and students who don’t think they can write well,” Lindsey said. “I have kids who say things like ‘I don’t like to read’ or ‘I’m not going to read’ so working with them and trying to get them on board with how wonderful it can be to love a book,” she said. “Then students who have zero confidence in their writing trying to nurture them through the process and give them confidence so that they will hopefully find their voice in their own pieces.”

In spite of the challenges faced, Lindsey still hopes for a successful year while experiencing West High traditions.

“I want to figure out all that West has to offer,” Lindsey said. “There’s so much that I don’t know so it’s exciting to learn the answers to all the millions of questions I had.”

Many may see Lindsey only as someone to educate them, but she is always willing to offer help any way she can.

“I want students to see me as someone they can talk to and come to, both academically and personally, as someone who cares about them,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey is eager to continue her career in the Parkway community.

“I’m excited to be at West High,” Lindsey said. “I’m excited to work with the big kids and learn new things and meet new people and try new strategies in the classroom.”