Dr. Racheal Luccasen is a third grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary School West. In this interview, she shares how she decided to become a teacher and who her favorite teacher was when she was a student.
Q: How long have you been a teacher and what subject do you teach?
A: How long have I been a teacher and what subjects do I teach? I have been teaching for 29 years. I taught for ten years at Our Lady of Sorrows, a Catholic school in Homewood—which I attended for elementary school, and then I taught at Vestavia Central for 14 years. I taught fourth grade at Vestavia Central, and now I've been at [Vestavia Hills Elementary] West for this is my fifth year at West, and I have taught third, fourth and fifth grade.
Q: What inspired you to become an educator?
A: What inspired me to become a teacher? It was actually a summer job that I had while I was in college.
I was a day camp counselor and, when I was in college, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life when I grew up, and I realized that every summer I look forward to being with the children and teaching them and playing with them and helping them make big world decisions. And so, right then, one summer, I knew that a teacher is what I was going to be.
Q: Tell us about your favorite teacher from when you were in school.
A: Tell us about your favorite teacher when you were in school. My favorite teacher was—when I was attending Vestavia High School my senior year in 1991—was my math teacher, Ms. Breckenridge. And the way that she modeled doing math, I still facilitate that type of learning in my classroom today. So, Ms. Breckenridge, thank you for all you did at Vestavia High School.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
A: What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher? It is when my students from the past come back and visit me, whether they have moved onto Pizitz [Middle School] or the high school or even in college. When they make an effort to come back and visit me or send me an email, that is absolutely the most rewarding part of being a teacher for me.