Starting out at any new school can be weird even for new teachers, especially when you used to attend as a student.  Coming full circle may be an odd experience, but GHS Alum and new math teacher Kelly O’Dea has embraced it. 

“It’s kind of surreal,” O’Dea said. “Many of the teachers I had I am now working with. It’s definitely weird, hearing the bells and things definitely puts me back, but not as weird as I thought it would be.” 

O’Dea graduated from GHS in 2014, and attended Merrimack College right after high school. Post graduation she went right into teaching. First, at Bishop Fenwick, then at Beverly High School. It was always her plan to teach high school. 

“High school is perfect,” said O’Dea. “One, I can get into more gritty math. Two, you can just have a conversation with a high-schooler.  I have to be able to connect with my students” 

Who better to connect with students than someone who has quite literally sat in their places? O’Dea can relate to the academic struggles her students face. 

 “It was quite a challenge for me, especially in middle school and in freshman and sophomore year,” O’Dea said. “That’s probably why I became a math teacher because my math teachers really helped me get over that idea that I wasn’t good at math.” 

One goal of hers for this school year is to maintain a better work life balance, “being a teacher you just have to prioritize what’s important.”