Most children from a young age dream of becoming an astronaut, a police officer or even president. Achieving great things for the world to admire and everyone to notice is something all children strive for. For Megan Leigh, deciding what she wanted to be for the rest of her life was easy. Ever since she was 7 years old, Ms. Leigh dreamed of becoming a meteorologist. Ms. Leigh worked as a meteorologist for two years before she realized her other dream job — teaching.
Megan Leigh received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey and is currently working on her getting her Masters degree with Mississippi State University. From a very young age, Ms. Leigh knew that being a meteorologist was her calling, although most of her friends and family told her she would make a great teacher.
After two years of working for NBC as a meteorologist, Megan Leigh realized that it might not be exactly what she wanted to do with her life. Ms. Leigh said, “My senior year in college I realized I did not want to be a meteorologist, but after 16 years of doing something you can’t just throw it all away.” Ms. Leigh continued on working as a meteorologist, and on the side, she tutored and taught lessons. She really enjoyed her side job of tutoring and came to think teaching might be the right path for her to take.
In 2008, Megan Leigh decided it was time to pursue something she really loved. She started teaching 9th grade Earth Science at a school in New Jersey. Ms. Leigh taught there for two years. She described her first day of teaching school as scary. The students had been bouncing around from substitute to substitute. When Ms. Leigh arrived the students were hesitant because they knew a permanent teacher meant they would actually have to do work.
Ms. Leigh transferred in 2010 to a school in Massachusetts. She became a physical science teacher at Dracut High School in Merrimack Valley. She thought high school students would be a good age for her to teach because they are at an age where their lives are changing. Ms. Leigh also said, “High school students can handle more complex topics then middle school, but at the same time it is different than college because you are still young and learning new things.” Ms. Leigh taught at Dracut for two years before coming to teach at Walpole High School.
Finally, Ms. Leigh arrived at Walpole High School this year to teach 9th grade, physical science. Now with 4 years of teaching behind her, Ms. Leigh was anxious to start teaching at a new school. Ms. Leigh said she likes Walpole High School’s environment and it is a great place to work. She said it is very different than her old high school but so far she is really enjoying it. Megan Leigh really likes being a teacher at Walpole High School and hopes to settle in here for a long time.
