Teaching is something that comes from deep within the heart. Teaching is a passion, it’s the love of gaining and sending knowledge to those who seek it. For Erica White, an American and AP World History Teacher, teaching is not just a career, but a passion and way of life.
“When I was six years old, I watched a Civil War Documentary with my mom,” White said, “ and then I said ‘I want to teach kids about this!’”
For seven years, White has been passing on the knowledge of history to students. She enjoys teaching about WWII, and how there are so many events that lead up to the world falling apart. She focuses a lot on the Holocaust which is a very tough subject, but it is one that she feels passionate about. She believes that there are many lessons to be learned throughout the course of Human Existence and gets frustrated when people this day on age don’t learn from historical mistakes.
“My parents moved to Indiana from Kentucky with nothing but five hundred dollars and a suitcase,” White explains, “my family worked hard and ended up living the American Dream.”
White’s family is one that is a constant support cushion and inspiration. White is very family oriented and takes pride in her southern heritage background. She has learned a lot from all her family members and very much enjoys spending time with them and her husband, whom she loves very much. her parents are her biggest inspiration, and she really looks back on the troubles they went through and all the sacrifices they made in order to giver he the perfect lifestyle needed. She has seen how her parents have triumphed and thus she is triumphing as well.
“Shine, make them wonder what you got, make them wish they were not on the outside looking for. Shine, let it shine before all the men, let them see all the good works and then let it glorify the Lord.”
This quote from the Song “Shine” by the Newsboys, a Christian band group from the 90’s, is a quote that pushes White quite a bit. her parents showed her the importance of Faith and Family, and thus she contributed faith and family into her daily life. She has been holding onto both of those things when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this past year. At first, the diagnosis was like hearing a pin drop in her heart. But with strength and passion, it is something that does not stand on her way of doing the thing she absolutely loves to do, and that is to teach. Of anything, it is something that makes her push harder, and to enjoy all of life’s smaller moments. She is a strong teacher, one who fights for the things she loves.
White is also the head of Student Council. she takes her love of teaching and uses it in inspiring students to better the community and to better the lives of others around them. Every year she takes Student Council to the County Home. They throw Christmas parties, Valentine parties, and Halloween parties for them. Everybody at the County Home is always anticipating the Student Council to come and entertain them. These little contributions make a huge impact on these people’s lives. White has really gone above and beyond in order to shape the lives of others.
White is someone who is passionate and loves what she does. she has grown as a person from the world around her. She loves what she does and she keeps her family close in order to live a happy life, surrounded by the things she loves to do and the people she loves to be with.