By Mylee Jones
Who is Zoe Ashcraft? She is a 20-year-old teacher who went to Delaware Community Schools for all of her education. She took almost all the dual credit classes offered in high school and managed to graduate college in just two years!
Miss Ashcraft felt it was right to teach at Delta.
“The fact that the opportunity to work at Delta popped up was comforting to me because it’s my first year teaching and it’s comforting to know how Delta runs,” she said.
Her dad, Paul Ashcraft, teaches physical education at Delta Middle School.
She decided that she wanted to become a teacher because she has always loved school and she felt she really thrived as a student. She wanted to continue to thrive in school and to share her love for education.
She graduated from Loyola University in Chicago. She said she doesn’t miss the classes she took there because they were a hit or miss, but she does, however, miss her good friends that go there.
In addition to her other classes, she took three summer courses: philosophy, English and a poetry class. The English class almost made her want to switch her major, but she didn’t.
Being a teacher was always in consideration. She is indecisive and says, “I don’t know if I will necessarily be a teacher forever because I’ll change my mind again, but I think this will be a long-term thing for me for a while.”
Freshman Carter Jackson, a student in her biology class, says it’s great having a young teacher. He says, “She’s really nice to us because I feel like she can relate to us a lot more because she is younger.”
Another freshman student, Faith Bisel, says that having such a young teacher who took her school career seriously is motivating her to be able to also take school seriously.
Miss Ashcraft said the biggest challenge that she faces with having students only five or six years younger is “getting them to respect the authority I have.” She says there are some perks to it, though, such as being able to connect with her students easier.
She says the hardest part of the job is to keep the students interested and she has to be creative in how she teaches.
Miss Ashcraft is excited to get to know people and she said, “I want to build a relationship with my students.”
When she was a freshman she never would’ve imagined being a teacher. She wanted to be a lawyer back then.
Even though she is a biology teacher she loves to read and that’s what she mostly does in her free time. She has a goal to read 45 books this year and has already gotten through 39 so far. Her favorite book she read this year is, “ The Secret History” by Donna Tartt. She said “ I’m not sure I have a single reason for reading as much as I do. To me, reading is a fun way to escape reality.” Her favorite genre is general fiction.
Her original plan was to take a gap year after college, but she said, “I am not the type of person to take a break. I have to stay busy.”
