Has your teacher ever had a dream about you? That may be the case if you’ve ever had Mrs. Gordon as a teacher. Gordon says that she has had the same dream of a select few of her present students at least several times in her teaching career; where she’s standing on the shore and loading the students into a little row-boat while calming them down. “This ship sinks every time, and I just stand there on shore, and sometimes I wave, and sometimes I am just really upset and so crippled by anxiety. Sometimes I try to help, but it still sinks anyway. I don’t know what it means!”
Merry Gordon has been teaching at Mountain Ridge High School for 26 years. She teaches three different subjects: Theatre 1-2, English 101/102, and Communications/Creative Writing. She directs two theatrical shows overall in a school year. One in the Fall/Winter with open auditions, and the other in the Spring, which does not have open auditions due to being a class show. Helping run The Trap Door Society is also one of Gordon’s many jobs. TDS is a club for all of the Theatre obsessed students at Ridge who just love to be around other people who admire the Arts!
Teachers may not be allowed to have favorites, but this one certainly does…depending on the day. When asked about which class she enjoys teaching the most, she jumped at the chance to talk about her students. “I’m really liking my English 102 kids right now because they’ve reached that phase where they’re not high school students anymore, but they’re not quite fully adults yet, and it’s been really fun to watch them make that transition. But, I love watching my Creative Writing kids have moments where they’re surprised at how good they are, and I love watching my theatre kids grow their confidence.”
Everyone loves a teacher who does things no one would expect! Like, for instance, playing the bass guitar! Which this specific teacher actually does! That’s just one reason Gordon is such an outstanding teacher at Mountain Ridge. Ryley Stinson, high school freshman, spoke about how she thinks Gordon shines as a teacher. “Mrs. Gordon is such an amazing teacher because she’s passionate about what she does. She’s such a kind and caring person, and that simply draws people to her. Especially since she always has a smile on her face.” But Gordon’s impact goes beyond the classroom and into the hearts of her fellow staff members.
So many students and staff love Gordon and look up to her. Though the question is, who does she look up to? Gordon didn’t hesitate when asked who her favorite members of the high school’s staff are. “Laura Nardone absolutely is my soul-sister. I am so happy to be able to teach with my best friend. I think that that’s really good, but someone who might not know that they are one of my favorite people is Dan Sabel. Whom I’ve admired from my first day at Ridge and I’m so sad he’s going to be retiring this year because I just think that he’s a really powerful teacher and a really amazing thinker.”
An interesting thing to learn about this theatre teacher is that she didn’t actually want to be a theatre teacher at first. She didn’t intend to minor in theatre in college. It was an accident! She didn’t think she had enough credits until they told her she did, and the first time she tried out for a play, she didn’t even know she was auditioning! Gordon always wanted to become a journalist, but woke up one morning senior year and decided that teaching was for her. She still writes on the side, but this just shows how much her passion has grown!
Laura Nardone also spoke about Gordon, and it is blatantly obvious that they’re best friends through and through. “Gordon is one of the most compassionate, intelligent, and adventurous humans I have ever known. She pours her heart and soul into teaching, and her students love her in spite of just how unhinged she can be-and perhaps because of it. Not a day goes by that I am not eternally grateful for my best friend and partner in crime.” Another big Gordon admirer is actually a student who TA’s in her first hour class. Logan Garrison, high school senior, loved having Mrs. Gordon as a teacher so much, he had to go back a different way. So he became a TA. “I’ve known Mrs. Gordon all four years of being here at Ridge. I admittedly wasn’t the best student to her as a freshman, yet she never once gave up on me. Thanks to her, I found my passion for theatre and it helped lead me to a career goal of teaching. She has a passion for teaching almost no other teacher here has. She always tries to include everyone in their own little ways. She can find the strength in people and help them overcome their weaknesses. Mrs. Gordon is genuinely an amazing teacher, and I hope to be a teacher just like her in the future.”
After a year of going to school every day, a student should take at least something from their classes. So why not some of Gordon’s attitude? “I never want to stop learning. I never want to stop being hungry and passionate about the world.” I would say that the world needs more people like Gordon, but then someone like her would be considered common, and everything about Mrs. Gordon is so unique that it would be a shame if there were so many people like her. Her choice to become a teacher was clearly an incredible one, because there are more people than I can count on both hands that care so much about her, and love being inspired every day by her. If a smile and some kind words is all you need, just go see Gordon and your day will get 10 times better.
