The path of our lives can take unexpected twists and turns,  at least one new teacher at Cotter can attest to the truth of this cliche.

There is a new teacher on the first floor of the Roger Bacon building.  Her name is Bead Kerr and she is teaching English 7, English 8, and World Civilization to freshman.

She has lived in lots of places. She was born and raised in Indiana, then moved to Winona with her family, and she lived in San Antonio, Texas, during college. She is currently living in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

Her parents  still live in Winona, and Ms. Kerr heard about a temporary job opening at Cotter through her father.  She applied and now she can be seen in a classroom in the RB.

She has a degree in English and minor in photography. She has worked as a writing tutor and  in a photography studio. She is a vegan and also likes yoga, listening to music, and reading dystopian fiction. Her favorite book is the “City of Glass” by Paul Auster.

As a teacher, she wants all of her students, regardless of the course, to learn events happening in the world these days. To help students learn world news, she talks about current news before the class and make her students to share some world news through Google classroom.

She plans to go to San Francisco to pursue a master’s in  literary theory and work with non-native English speakers as a tutor.

She keeps a short quote in her mind to help her stay focused and have a positive attitude. “All things go, so be grateful for even the smallest of blessings.”

She is enjoying her first month at Cotter, except she is not having enough sleep these days. She said the Cotter is the community which is truly unified. Everyone is sincerely kind, helpful, dedicated, and mindful and this is a very rare to come across.

Judging by her students comments, Ms. Kerr is off to a good start.

“She is good at teaching history and works hard,” said freshman Ben Matzke.