Although she hasn’t been a member of Center Hill High School’s English Department very long, Braidyn Creddle has created a lasting impression around the school. Three years ago, Creddle made the switch from teaching English at the middle school to the high school. Now, she teaches twelfth grade English, Essential Lit, Advanced Placement English 11, and drama. This year, however, she is now a co-sponsor of the school spirit organization Insane Stangs. 

Question: So, what made you decide to do Insane Stangs this year?

Creddle: So, I don’t do a ton after school, and I found myself, like wanting to just go home after work, but then I wouldn’t get to games, even though I wanted to see my students at games. I wanted to support them.

I felt like doing Insane Stangs not only would be fun. I love it. It also got me to go to more games, which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve gotten to support through football season, through volleyball season, and now into basketball and soccer.

Question: When you were in college did you ever think that you would come back to your high school alma mater to teach? Or did you have other plans?

Creddle: When I was in high school, I wanted to be an English teacher for a long time. I had an English teacher, my junior English teacher, who was also my theater teacher, and she was amazing, and I looked up to her a lot. She made me wanna be a teacher.

I actually spent my freshman year of college under a different major, and about halfway through that second semester, I decided that I didn’t like anything I was doing. I wasn’t passionate about it at all. And so, I changed my major to education and didn’t look back.

Question: Do you prefer the high school compared to the middle school? You’ve only been here for a few years, and you’ve already contributed to drama and Insane Stangs, so is it better, worse, the same?

Creddle: It could not be any better. I have a special connection to this school, and especially this building because when I was in school here, I was only ever at this building. They built the middle school the year I started my freshman year, so I’ve been here the whole time.

And I prefer teaching upper grades. I’ve learned, especially in an English setting, middle school age is not for me.

Question: Is it more a comprehension or a maturity level issue with the middle schoolers?

Creddle: Yeah. I feel like you can expect different things out of older students naturally because of the maturity level, and I prefer the expectation being higher than a sixth-grade level.

Also, with theater here, getting to teach kids drama and see their love for theater grow on the stage where I fell in love with it is so magical.

Question: Are there any teachings that your old theater and English teacher had that you carry over?

Creddle: There are—it’s so funny; the way that I do bell work carries over from the way that my English teacher did. Also, in theater the way that I teach warmups and stuff, are the warmups that my theater teacher taught me. Also a lot of the theater games that we play in class, I got from her.