Writing is a skill that some either enjoy while others think as a chore.
To English teacher Kanisha Parks, language and literature shaped her childhood from a student often getting into trouble, to an aspiring writer.
“In first grade, I got in trouble a lot and actually got suspended 13 times in first grade,” Parks said. “[I was] a little bit of a troublemaker; in second grade, my teacher discovered that I had a knack for writing. She would give me writing assignments on the side, and it really changed my life. I only got suspended twice that year.”
After establishing her passion for writing, Parks chose to become an English teacher with several jobs prior to Marshall.
“I taught at a magnet school in Augusta, Georgia,” she said. “Then I taught at [the] Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas.”
Later, Parks decided to move from Texas to Virginia.
“I came to Marshall because I got engaged,” Parks said. “My boyfriend and I were long distance and decided that living here would be better than him moving to Dallas.”
Transitioning to a new school in January provided challenges.
“Coming into school in the middle of the year is really hard,” she said. “Getting used to new systems and things, especially in the middle of a grading period is really hard.” She said she thinks it is challenging for everyone “just because, you know, we’re living in a new normal. It’s going to continue to look different every single year, I think for a long time.”
Challenges aside, Parks said working at Marshall has allowed her to experience new things.
She said she is excited to work with a team and she has “never worked with a team as [her] other schools were really small.”
To Parks, who writes and edits content on the side, writing is more than a job that one completes every day. She has turned it into a hobby and enriches herself with literature outside of the classroom.
“I have my own writing editing business called Good Report Editorial Firm,” Parks said. I think that’s a fun fact, because it just shows that obviously, we’re not just teaching skills that don’t have real world application.
Reflecting back to her second grade discovery, Parks expressed her appreciation for choosing the path of literature at a young age.
“Writing is an amazing skill that will allow you to do so many things in any field really,” she said. “I think just knowing that I am a working writer, in addition to teaching, can show them that you don’t have to be just one thing.”