Ms. Gifford grew up here in New Bedford but moved to Dartmouth when she married. Her hobbies include reading, gardening, taking long walks, and spending time with her family. She considers raising her children has been the most important job in her life. She also adores animals and babies, if she were not a teacher, she would have liked to work with either of them.
With her students, Ms. Gifford believes that her students should feel comfortable and welcomed in her classroom to build mutual respect. She advises students to remember to have fun during their final school years but still take their education seriously. Ms. Gifford is inspired every day by the people she works with and advises her colleagues to remember that students have a lot more in their lives than just the classes they teach, to try to remember what it is like to be a high school student when conducting classes and assigning work.
Ms. Gifford has been teaching for 23 years now, she has only worked at this school during her career. She knew she wanted to teach high school-aged students, and believes her career has been incredibly rewarding. She believes that students, especially upperclassmen, can have meaningful discussions about important topics reflected in literature. In fact, her favorite things to teach are topics her students are mostly interested in and it helps her enjoy the material she teaches even more.
Article and Picture by: Molly McGrath, Senior Media Technology