December 2011 Chatterbox - Ruston High School

T
eacher Spotlights Chatterbox
Ruston High School December 15, 2011 Page 9
Mrs. Alicia Thomason teaches CP and standard English I, works with Freshman Academy Student Services,
and sponsors 4-H and KOM. She is married to Mr. Neil Thomason and has two dogs named
Maggie and Max. Her best bud and fashion consultant is Mrs. Howell. She graduated from Haynesville
High School and claims she was (and still is) a nerd and an overachiever . She has wanted to be a teacher
as far back as she can remember. Her hobbies include singing, playing the piano, cooking, and decorating.
She loves the LSU Tigers and has room in her home dedicated to them..
Mrs. Beth ―Y-Dawg‖ Yenser teaches 10th grade English and sponsors the Bearcat Belles. She
claims that her entire life revolves around education and football. Both of her granddads, her dad, her
brother, and her husband are or were football coaches. Both of her grandmothers, her mother, and now
she teaches or has taught English on some level. She absolutely loved high school, which is what made
her want to teach at this level. She loves the students, traditions, school spirit, and especially Friday
night football. Her advice to students is that high school should be one of the best times of your life and
to enjoy it and not wish your days away counting down the days until graduation.
Mrs. Julie Stephenson teaches AP English III and sponsors National Honor Society. She is married
to Mr. Kiley Stephenson and has two children: Tatum, 9, and Cooper, 5. Her mother is Mrs. Donnie
Bartlett: she used to be the mean one in the family. She have a cat named Poe who was found in the
ceiling of a building at Cedar Creek when he was three weeks old; he thinks he is a person and will hug
you. She also has two dogs named Penelope and Sam who are spastic and demanding. All of her pets
have literary names: Poe (Edgar Allen Poe), Penelope (Odysseus‘s wife), and Sam (Sam Hamilton from
East of Eden by Steinbeck). Mrs. Stephenson says that being a teenager was very tough and that there
was always drama. She did enjoy high school, but she was sad to be headed to Ruston for college. Fall
quarter of her freshman year in college was amazing—the independence and friendships that she got to
experience was amazing. Plus, she is a nerd and loves to learn, so four years of being a college student
and having friends who were fellow nerds was invaluable. Her advice to students is that sometimes high school isn‘t about getting ready for
something else; sometimes you should just be in high school and to get that experience too because you are here for four years and will always
be associated with RHS. Also, in our youth we spent a lot of time planning our future and miss some of the value of our present experiences.
Understand that you must plan and prepare, but you must also enjoy life because when you finally attain whatever goals you have, you
may not now how to truly relish the rewards or have anyone special with which you can share. She has three chickens and one guinea, but
otherwise she is quite unremarkable unless you count her webbed toes and her tail.