The chatter around Mrs. Carla King’s classroom is almost always the same, students entering inquiring about any unannounced quizzes or essays about iambic pentameter or parallel construction, and students exiting answering in a joking manner, “Oh yea, you have a five paragraph essay due by the end of the class.” But it isn’t all business in Honors Comp./Lit. You may even walk in on Romeo Montague murdering Tybalt Capulet in a dramatic reenactment of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This is the legacy of Mrs. King, beloved Language Arts teacher of many years.
Carla King was born in Platte, South Dakota, but she grew up in Chamberlain, South Dakota until she went to college at South Dakota State University in Brooking, South Dakota where she majored in Language Arts. King originally planned on teaching business right out of college, but she decided to instruct language arts instead. She says this is because her language arts teacher had such a good influence on her and she was a strong English student growing up. Mrs. King got her first teaching job in a small town called Letcher, South Dakota. There were 38 students in the entire school. Soon though, that school combined with another, so she taught there for a year before moving to Pierre, South Dakota, where she quickly found another teaching job. After five years in Pierre, Mrs. King decided to move here, where she has been teaching for five years. King says she still enjoys teaching; her favorite parts being watching her students grow throughout the years.
Personally, I have Mrs. King for Honors Comp./Lit. 9. Mrs. King does a fantastic job of presenting often confusing literature in a way that all students can comprehend. I have learned many new writing techniques and strategies and I have enjoyed gaining that knowledge. Mrs. King has been a family friend for about three years; I attended school with her daughter. Coincidentally, my dad taught Mrs. King’s daughter language arts in sixth and seventh grade. Mrs. King cares about her students as well; a breath of fresh air compared to some other teachers. Whenever I have a baseball or football game she asks me how it went or even tries to make it to them. I would like to personally thank Mrs. King for all of her hard work; you are a fantastic teacher.