By: Natalie Neuhaus
For those new to the Upper School, you have most likely not met Ms. K. Ms. K is one of our amazing English teachers here. Ms. K has been teaching at Friends’ Central for nine years, and in the past she has taught everything from the tenth grade Pursuit of Justice course to the eleventh and twelfth grade English seminars. Ms. K is also the assistant Girls Cross Country coach and has been coaching for eight years. However, this past semester, Ms. K has been on maternity leave, taking care of and spending time with her newborn daughter, Baxter. Baxter Harrigan was born July 10th, 2019. (Fun fact: July 10th is National Kitten Day!) Now, Baxter is now almost three months old. I asked Ms. K some questions to learn about her experience with Baxter.
Upon being asked what has been one of the hardest changes so far, Ms. K explained that one of the most difficult things for her has been lack of independence and the inability to get up and just go places. However, one of her favorite parts about being a parent is seeing Baxter grow, learn, and develop, especially when she starts smiling and responding a little bit. Baxter is very gregarious, outgoing, and smiley. She is interested in anything that lights up and moves. When asked how Baxter is both similar and different from Ms. K, Ms. K told me that she looks very much like her dad in the face, and gets a lot of the extraversion from her dad as well. Ms. K also said that she sits and reads books with her, and she is very happy with that.
Being an English teacher Ms. K has a great appreciation for books. One of her favorites is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Along with enjoying a good fictional romance novel, Ms. K also enjoys reading to Baxter. Ms. K, says, “We read Goodnight, Moon every night before bed. And she also really enjoys Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”
Ms. K says, “One of her favorite places to be is my family’s camp in Maine. I also enjoy going on walks with her and singing songs.”
Ms. K misses a lot of aspects of Friends’ Central. “I miss being around for the start of the year, because there is such a good energy,” she said. “I also miss seeing and hearing what everyone did over the summer, reading the same books and talking about them.” Ms. K will come back to teaching in January and will teach two tenth grade English classes as well as a Poetry Seminar. We are all looking forward to her return, and of course we hope to see Baxter around campus!
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