As the new school year starts, several new teachers have come to CHS to make it their new home. Among them is Miss Alexis Cherby, a new English teacher, who is currently teaching seniors in British Literature and sophomores in American Literature.
Cherby attended Cherokee High School before graduating from TCNJ, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English, secondary education. However, Cherby acknowledged that she was not always planning on teaching English.
“At first, I studied music education. I wanted to be a music teacher and a performer,” Cherby said. “And then I realized I was super passionate about literature, reading, and writing skills, so that steered me more towards the direction of teaching English.”
After graduating from TCNJ this past spring, Cinnaminson has become her first teaching opportunity. Cherby admits that the transition has been strange, yet rewarding.
“Nothing fully prepares you to teach except for the experience of actually teaching,” Cherby said. “Learning the structure of teaching is a huge challenge, but it feels healthy. Every day, I get a little bit better. It’s an interesting process, but I can feel my brain growing day to day.”
Cherby said she was also considering teaching at Cherokee, but ultimately chose Cinnaminson.
“The curriculums were similar. The values of the schools were similar. Seeing all the different decorations and student achievements is just really inspiring to me,” Cherby said. “It made me really want to be a part of this community. I could see there was a community here that I wanted to contribute to.”
In her free time, Cherby said she loves to read. After realizing how important literature is, she explained that if there was one thing she’d want people to take away from her, it would be her passion for reading.
“I try to read an hour a day, at least, over the summer, it erred into two to three hours a day. So I read somewhere between like 12 and 15 books over the summer,” Cherby said. “Yeah, that’s like my big hobby.”
Cherby said she plans to make herself a staple of the Pirate community, embracing what it truly means to be a Pirate.
