Christina McGovern teaches AP Literature and dual enrollment classes at Mountain Brook High School.
Q: How long have you been a teacher and what subjects do you teach?
A: I began my career immediately after college.I began in South Carolina where I taught 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade English literature my nine years there, and even a few electives. I love teaching literature. And my favorite subject is British literature. I love teaching seniors. I moved to Alabama 18 years ago, I'm entering my 27th year of teaching where now I teach AP literature and dual enrollment.
Q: What inspired you to become an educator?
A: I had a really early love of teaching. I think I was around seven or eight when I decided to turn our closet in our bedroom into a classroom and much to my mother’s chagrin, I threw everything out of the closet and put my books on the shelves and set up my stuffed animals. They were my first students. And then when I could wrangle my younger sisters, they were some of my early students. I just loved teaching from an early age.
Q: Tell us about your favorite teacher from when you were in school.
A: Miss Russell and Miss White were early influences. Mr Buck Asbel, as my senior English teacher, inspired me to pursue literature. And Doctor Dean Thompson at Presbyterian College—my mentor really taught me so much about education, about engaging with students about being compassionate and involved in students lives and relevance.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
A: I love light bulb moments. Those flashes of insight students make. They make wonderful connections to the world to themselves. Flashes of insight, revelations about humanity, connections. I love those flashes of insight because they're often insight for me as well. The wonderful thing about teaching literature is that I grow from my students every year. Every class period, I learn something new about life.
