Wilson always dreamed of teaching

Most children who dream of growing up to become teachers imagine one day teaching the little ones, the kindergartners and the first-graders. But not Warren County High School teacher Chastity Wilson.

“I always dreamed of becoming a high school teacher one day, a high school English teacher,” she said.

She was encouraged to enter the teaching profession, she said, by Syd Prater, one of her own English teachers at Irving College Elementary. “She was my inspiration. I was one of those kids who just loved school and I wanted to be like her,” she said.

So after graduating from Warren County Senior High in 1991, she ventured off to Tennessee Tech where she earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary education. A further desire to teach at the college level prompted her to acquire a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in English.

She soon was hired at Motlow State Community College as an adjutant English professor, hoping all the while to be hired at the high school. Her wish came true in 1997, but she has also remained at Motlow where she often teaches English 101 and 102 at night.

In her years at the high school, Wilson has taught English at three of the four grade levels. “I thoroughly enjoy it like I knew I would,” she said. “I need variety and there is never a dull moment. Every class is different.”

As exciting as the subject English is to her, she knows such works as “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens aren’t exactly going to set every student she teaches on fire and tries to find new and different ways of engaging her students.

“I try to find their interests, especially the ones who aren’t fond of reading,” she explained, adding she will often get those students with artistic talent to create a work of art about a particular story.

Also key, she said, is making sure every student is a participant in her class. She will call on every student, probing and prodding those who are reluctant to get involved. “I try not to have silent students,” she said.

In addition to her teaching duties, Wilson is also sponsor of the school’s Beta Club.

When not at school she can often be found spending time with her husband, Travis, doing “outdoor stuff” such as hunting and fishing. She is also an avid gardener and canner and has even been known to help out at her family’s nursery. Her goal, she said, is to one day earn her doctorate.