Ms. Kayla Hester is the new Economics teacher at The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Hester has been teaching for ten years. Hester is originally from Nettleton, MS, but moved to Columbus from Starkville, MS.

Hester has not always wanted to be a teacher. “I never imagined being a teacher,” Hester said. Hester found her calling for teaching in her college history class where she found that she enjoys history and decided to major in it.

“I wanted to focus on teaching and with a class of three hundred, it was pretty hard. I didn’t even know everyone’s name.” Hester says. The Neddleton native had been teaching at Mississippi State University for six years while in grad school, but she did not want to continue teaching at universities as much because she likes to have interaction with her students.

“Being able to share what I am passionate about is one of the best parts of teaching” Hester said, her passion showing in her eyes. Hester has a love for history and wishes to share this with her students throughout the year.

Teaching students things they might not have heard of and exposing them to new ideas is one of Hester’s goals for the year. “I want to help improve their writing and critical thinking skills.” Hester believes that, regardless of the use of history, the skills students will learn in her class will help them to succeed in life.

Students change in perspective and confidence when a semester goes by. “Students get more comfortable speaking and discussing as the year goes by and slowly gain confidence in speaking, debating and understanding” Hester said. She enjoys watching her students grow and believes that “If they never think about history again, they will always have their writing skills.”