Updated 10/24/18, 10: 19 am: Second graf removed. Kelly was not offered a professorship at CalPoly.

Elizabeth Kelly, a new English teacher at SCHS, always knew teaching was her destiny. According to Kelly, her love for literature drove her to want to share her passion.

Kelly has been teaching for 17 years, previously at Gilroy High School, Pioneer Valley High School and Templeton Middle School.

“At first I thought I’d be a college professor, then I did my full-time teaching in a high school and I was like ‘Wait a minute, I really like this,’” Kelly said.

Kelly said she adores SCHS’s atmosphere of kindness, where students and staff show genuine concern for one another. She believes her previous school lacked a caring environment.

“They said they cared, but the follow-through wasn’t there,” Kelly said.  

Kelly attempted to fix problems at GHS. She became English department chair but quickly realized issues were out of her control.

According to Kelly, her experience as a department chair made it clear that teaching and being in the classroom is where she is meant to be. She was also inspired by her mother, who taught Spanish for over 20 years at Old Saybrook High School in Connecticut.

Outside of work, Kelly enjoys making jewelry, a hobby she picked up in college after she noticed jewelry items were not being crafted with quality. She even has a small business on Etsy called Ophelia’s Jewelry Box.

“I’ve been doing it for a long time and got serious with it in college as a hobby,” Kelly said.

Kelly’s hope for her future is to continue teaching. She said she wants to be with students for as long as she can and hopes they remember her for her sense of humor and passion for English.

Kelly’s personal goal as a teacher is “to never get stale,” she said. “When the day comes that I can’t find something in my field to be jazzed about, then that’s the day I need to retire.”