Oakdale has many great new teachers this year such as Brittany Patrick. Patrick currently teaches Merit and Honors English 10. She will be teaching English 9 and English 10 next spring.

Patrick is very passionate about teaching; she has taught at four different schools and this is her 12th year teaching. She taught for eight years in Kentucky before moving to Maryland and getting a job teaching in Washington County.

She enjoys teaching English as she mentions, “I think the English side just kinda fell into place and now I don’t see myself teaching any other subject.” She has taught English to many different groups of students through her time at many different schools and grade levels.

Patrick has taught both middle and high school. She prefers teaching higher grade level students, she explains, “I LOVE teaching high school because of the relationships I get to create with my students and to see where they go in the future and help them develop their future plans.”

While in high school, Patrick took classes working on the school year book. She loved it so much, she decided she wanted to find a job including the English and graphic design aspects. She landed on teaching English with the chance to teach students how to create and edit the school year book.

She elaborates “I did get to do this [teach English and yearbook] for four years in Kentucky, where I taught English 10 and was the Yearbook advisor for the school.” She ended up loving teaching English and she continued to do so.

Patrick decided she was done teaching middle school and wanted to go back to teaching high school. She informs, “I was leaving Washington County Public Schools and I wanted to teach high school again after teaching middle school the past three years.”

At Oakdale Patrick uses what she has learned during her time teaching at other schools to adapt to the student population and help students learn more. Patrick describes her teaching style as student and content based but she also encourages students to do their best. All the while trying to allow for fun and educational games. 

Nicholas Robinson, a Sophomore at Oakdale and one of Patrick’s English 10 students, shares his views on Patricks teaching style: “It’s unique and she teaches in a way that not a lot of teachers do.”

Robinson goes on to talk about how he enjoys Patrick’s enthusiasm and encouragement in her class. Robinson finds the class engaging and fun due to the lessons and games Patrick provides. Robinson finds that Patrick’s class is something to look forward to and is glad to have her as his teacher.

Robinson talks about the games they play when studying or for review. He enjoys playing games and doing fun lessons as a break from his other classes. Patrick also has a reward system in class. Robinson describes that when you get a question right you get a sticker on your card and once a student gets the card full they win a prize.

These and many other reasons are why Patrick and the other great new teachers are welcomed here at Oakdale and their work and teachings don’t go unappreciated.