Feature Photo By: Savana Kovacs- Rutherford works with senior Dominique Gallion on her project. Students can come in Tuesdays and Thursdays for extra help.
Placed in the middle of the hallway, adjacent to the Math department, is the English teacher whom many say is very energetic and down to earth. Students can often be found in her room deep in work regardless of a day off (her CCA classes only meet 3 days weekly), and some come just for the atmosphere. This teacher is Ms. Rutherford. While she is a newer teacher to Rangeview, many would find her relatable as a person outside of the classroom.
Something that not many people know is that Rutherford’s interest in teaching and literature developed from a young age.
“I think that when I was earlier in life, I was interested. My dad had been running a program that got grants to bring writers into schools. I always really liked reading and writing,” says Rutherford.
Because of Rutherford’s father being heavily involved in the English department at a local school, her love of literature grew. Rutherford eventually went to college at Binghamton University where she staffed the literary magazine, Harpur Palate.
Rutherford also went on to say, “I started out as a reader of fiction, then I ended up being the fiction editor the next year.”
She found the process of reviewing works or writing to be interesting, going on to describe the process of reviewing the literature as “a pretty smooth process. Sometimes the younger readers would be like, ‘This is weird! Trash!’ and we’d have to say ‘No it’s actually pretty good.’ They also get very literal about what ‘good’ looks like.”
With her heavy experience in the literature department and love of the classroom, she eventually decided on to becoming an English teacher.
Besides the challenges of being a teacher, Ms. Rutherford finds solitude in other fun activities such as cooking, baking, and hiking.
“I really like making pies and cakes too. The problem is having people to cook for,” Rutherford stated. “I do a book club with my friends and we each bring something and two of the people who attend are vegan. So, I made a vegan Chocolate Cake that was really good.”
Before coming to Rangeview, Ms. Rutherford also mentioned some different schools that she worked at, talking about how there is definitely a lot of opportunity in our school. She had previously worked at Englewood High School where she described her environment as depressing. The students did not have connections with the teachers like they do here.
She also went on to talk about how Rangeview has created a community setting, something that has been instrumental in her teaching. Many know that within Rutherford’s classroom, there is no shortage in the community aspect.
Senior Tyler Gohl expressed his gratitude for Rutherford, stating, “She’s just a good teacher. She is always really friendly, it’s not like coming into work. If you need help then you are more than welcome to come in and get help.”
Gohl is currently taking English 121 and really enjoys how Rutherford has structured her class. Gohl also mentioned that he enjoys reading satirical pieces that were presented to her studio classes.
Gohl also went on to say, “I’ll be sad if she leaves, she’s a great teacher.”
Another student, Denys Panteleyev (12), also had some thoughts on Ms. Rutherford’s teaching.
He is currently taking Rutherford’s English 121 class and said he likes her “straight forwardness and her humor. She is really laid back with her students, and she comes and talks to you about your assignments. If you talk about something and she heard then she would laugh with you about it.” Panteleyev also mentioned that this is not his first year taking her classes.
Panteleyev had taken Ms. Rutherford’s honors English class his freshman year and continues to enjoy her personality.
Panteleyev then went on to say, “She’s just a good person. She likes the job that she does, she likes to communicate with her students.”
Ms. Rutherford is known to many students as a truly great teacher that has been known to help foster a love of English. She is also widely known to be a very easygoing teacher. Whether inside or outside the classroom, many see that Rutherford is someone who anyone can relate to with her love of cooking, love of English, and her very sociable personality.
