By: Shanai’ Smith and Kazin Banks

Perseverance is “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” (Lexico Dictionary). We are introducing a new member of our Oakland Mills Community.  Rebecca Ache, a science teacher at Oakland Mills High School, is located in classroom 804.  

Mrs. Ache spent most of her high school years in Texas. After graduating high school, she attended Lebanon Valley located in Pennsylvania and University of Maryland Baltimore County College. Before pursuing her teaching career, Mrs. Ache tried to pursue a career in architecture. She wasn’t fully into it mentally but she created a portfolio nonetheless. In doing that, she tried to use it to get into numerous schools, but no one wanted her work. Later on she got a bachelors degree in physics and art.

Mrs. Ache fell into teaching by a fluke and quickly learned to love it. Loving ideas that cause you to think and expand the conversation is what inspires her. Having a couple of students who learned differently that the school system didn’t account for, she wanted to go back to school so that she can help kids have that educational freedom. She describes her job as fun but also appreciates the seriousness of it. She likes how it can change from day to day. Her least favorite thing about teaching is grading. She hates giving students a number to represent what they’re doing in class. She likes to help them explore their own ideas and enjoys talking about science to see what kids are interested in. She likes the student aspect of it.

Mrs. Ache loves teaching. She describes it as “easy to keep her students engaged with labs.” She believes that getting off topic doesn’t exist in her classroom and that science gives everyone a creative outlet. Mrs. Ache never wants her students to feel like there’s a topic too out of the way to ask questions about. “Ideals fuel me,” Mrs. Ache said. Getting into random topics, her favorite food is TexMex cuisine. For those who don’t know, TexMex is a fusion of the normal Texas barbecue with lots of classic Mexican delights such as tacos and enchiladas.

Mrs. Ache is really afraid of heights or going fast. Despite that she still enjoys roller coasters. She has a pet tortoise named Tortilla, (of course he’s not very fast). In her free time she reads, runs, and builds sculptures. All in all, Mrs. Ache states that she loves and appreciates the Oakland Mills Community this far, and she is excited to be a part of it.