The MHED Team would like to congratulate the May Sub of the Month Peggy Brown!
Peggy Brown is originally from Pennsylvania. She attended Shippensburg University straight out of high school and majored in Elementary Education and minored in Social Studies. Peggy says, “It’s hard growing up near Gettysburg, PA and not loving learning about history!” Peggy married her husband, Kelly, who was active duty Army at the time, and finished her degree overseas through the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), Heidelberg/European Campus. There she earned a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in History/German History, Language, Life and Culture. Peggy and Kelly have been married 31 years and have been blessed with five children and three grandchildren. Three of Peggy’s children are grown and two still live at home. “My children and grandchildren have been great practice for what I do now!”
Currently, Peggy is working on a Master of Arts in Teaching for certification in grades 6 – 12 Social Studies. Her first substitute teaching assignment was in Germany for grades K – 5. During that assignment, she was able to fill in for her host nation teacher because of her German language/culture background, which she always enjoyed. When Peggy and her husband were stationed in NY, she subbed for three years in grades K -12. There, she worked a fair amount of special education and upper elementary grades, which she also enjoyed! Since moving to Kansas, Peggy has done a number of long-term assignments in elementary and middle school classrooms. “I really enjoy getting to know my students and watching the learning take place. Even when I am in a one-day assignment, my goal is to make sure learning continues. I am not there to babysit. I let my students know that we have work to get done, that we can have fun doing our work; but even if it’s difficult, we have to push ourselves to learn the material. I let the students know that learning new material can be difficult, however if we already knew this material, then why would we be here?” Peggy credits her ability to persevere through tough times to her German professor. “He didn’t want to hear it was hard and I had to work!”
Peggy’s passion for learning and for sharing knowledge with her students is evident in the feedback we receive from teachers, secretaries, and principals. Peggy is a highly requested substitute teacher for both long term and daily substitute teaching assignments in Bonner Springs and Leavenworth. When asked what she enjoys most about substitute teaching, Peggy said, “I genuinely enjoy seeing the ‘light bulb’ come on in a student’s thought process, no matter what the subject area. This is why I have enjoyed the opportunity to substitute in different subject areas at different grade levels. Each experience has its own unique joy. I’m glad I get to be part of it.”
Thank you, Peggy, for all that you do for MHED and the districts’ teachers, students, and staff!