Leanne Pike Brings in Field-Expert from Regina’s Own Backyard
This week’s Feature a Teacher is Leanne Pike.
How long have you been at Regina Dominican? I am starting my third year at Regina, although I have been teaching for over 15 years.
What have you enjoyed most about your time at Regina Dominican? I have enjoyed the opportunity to challenge myself later in my career by teaching AP classes.
How does Regina Dominican’s all-girls community impact your teaching? Teaching at an all-girls school has influenced my teaching by allowing me to focus more on women’s role in history and government. History has so many important role models for our students.
This week, Officer Valdez (Isabella Valdez’s father) came to visit your class. Can you tell us what the purpose of his visit was? We were lucky to have Officer Valdez visit the American Legal Studies class. He added his expertise to our current study of gangs and drugs.
What was the biggest takeaway from his visit? The students learned about various gangs in Chicago and the suburbs. Some of the topics discussed were: how people are inducted into gangs, what gang life is like and how difficult it is to leave gangs.
Seeing that this visitor was also a current parent, why is parent involvement so important? Parent involvement is beneficial to everyone in the Regina community. It gives parents a chance to be involved in the educational aspect of their daughters lives at a deeper level. The students are also very proud to have their parents in the classroom.
What are some other things your classes are currently learning? In addition to American Legal Studies, we are tackling interesting subjects in other classes. In Government, we are discussing political parties and why people vote the way they do. In Contemporary Issues, we are always dissecting current event topics as well as researching global issues in the areas of war, health, water, education, and shelter. In AP US History, the students are continually interpreting and analyzing primary resources, debating historical topics and writing, writing, and writing.
Do you have a certain time in history that is your favorite to teach and why? I enjoy any time period in history where people took a stand and fought for what they believed in such as the American Revolution, Women’s Suffrage and the Civil Rights Era.
