By Shrija Krishnan, Business Manager
English teacher and department chair Karen Gately knew since childhood that she wanted to teach. While she originally aspired to become an elementary school teacher, her passion for literature led her to pursue a career in teaching high school English. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English from Shippensburg University, Gately began teaching in 1999 and joined the Conestoga faculty in 2001, where she has taught ever since. In addition to teaching the AP Literature & Composition and Comparative Literature: Science Fiction and Dystopia courses, Gately is one of the assistant coaches for field hockey.
Q: What is the best part about teaching at Conestoga?
A: I’ve been here so long that (Conestoga) is just a part of me. I love my colleagues, and over the last two-and-a-half decades I have made some very special friendships. Teaching at Conestoga is amazing because our administration trusts and treats us as professionals, so we have a lot of autonomy in our classrooms and can share our passions with our students.
Q: What is your favorite topic to teach?
A: I love teaching Shakespeare. That’s what I studied when I was placed at New College in Oxford for a graduate experience. I wound up writing a series of essays about various Shakespeare plays, and the dons there require you to read your paper to them one-on-one. That experience of having to defend my writing in person really helped me learn what it meant to be truly interactive with literature. I always tell my students that if they are unsure, that they should read their papers aloud because hearing your own voice is really important.
Q: As an English teacher, what do you like to read?
A: I was always a big reader. Mystery is definitely one of my favorite genres to read for fun. Right now I’m reading a book called “College Girl Gone.” It’s a true crime. A lot of people think that I’m a reading snob, but I’ll read anything.
Q: What do you like to do outside of the classroom?
A: I have a really close-knit group of friends that I spend a lot of time with. I also love watching a lot of movies and TV shows. I’m a Netflix junkie — I’ll watch anything from horrible, cheesy reality TV like “Love is Blind” to “American Primeval.” I also spend a lot of time with my family — I have a daughter who’s 19 and a son who’s 16. My daughter and I are very similar and share a passion for field hockey.
Q: What do you enjoy about coaching field hockey?
A: I’ve played field hockey since fourth grade. Coaching is something that brings me a tremendous amount of joy. It is a huge time commitment, but I love everything about it — my team, atmosphere and the program. Winning the state championship has been 20 years in the making for me, so to see it happen is really one of the best experiences.
Q: Why do you think reading is important?
A: For us as citizens, to be educated is to be a reader in one way or another. I think that most of my students do love reading — they just don’t have time for it or don’t make time for it. So even if I plant the seed now and then they become a reader when they’re out of college, that’s okay.
Shrija Krishnan can be reached at [email protected].
