Nights spent in the forest by the campfire grading essays, weekends spent hiking in different parks, and exciting stories of all her nature experiences told in the classroom. These are all things that make it so that the students of Rochester High School, even students who have never had a class with her, know endlessly of Mrs. Starr’s love of nature.
Mrs. Starr says her love for nature did not begin till she was in college. She began seriously hiking with her husband, Paul, in college. but recalls camping with her parents when she was young. “ I think I was about 12 when I hiked for the first time in Indiana and thought the scenery like winding trails, hills, and bluffs were incredible. We camped often in a very out of the way location called Sutton’s Bluff in Missouri. We would float down the river on tubes and explore the area. Places like Johnson’s Shut Ins State Park and Elephant Rocks were so beautiful that I wanted to see more of the surrounding woods.”, says Starr. When she was in college, as aforementioned, she said she took lots of trips in the southern Illinois area and hiked in every area of Illinois. Starr says that these areas have more diversity than most may think.
“Being outside camping and hiking is a priority for me. I would rather be in the woods than anywhere else. It is very important to me and the way I live my life.”, said Starr when asked about taking her husband and child to campgrounds and hikes, she prioritizes the outdoors for herself and her family. She said that every year her family likes to travel to another state to find federal parks and campgrounds- disliking the crowded and private campgrounds with swimming pools. “If they are rustic, we are happy.”. She says they can find new places once getting a camper, after years of sleeping in tents and popups. It allowed them more preparations and more flexibility to stay in remote locations.
“When I am in the woods hiking, it is calming and stimulating, all at the same time. Hiking is my form of therapy and a way for me to really connect with my family. My family and I really bond during our hiking trips because there are no distractions such as technology. Ever since Day was a baby, we would camp and hike with them. Imagine strapping a child into a child “backpack” and lugging them through the forest. It was hard at times, but it was worth it.” Starr describes it beautifully. Starr’s child, Day, is now 20 years of age and an amateur mycologist, a branch of biology that studies fungi, identifying mushrooms and slime molds as they hike.
Starr’s favorite memories though are just domestic ones like spending time by the fire with her family. “We like just talking or playing Gin, a card game we like. There are too many good memories to pick just one,” says Starr. But when asked, two memories came to mind. “Every year we travel to new places. We plan ahead to find the best hiking trails. Two years ago, Day, Paul, and I discovered Cub Lake in the Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee. The trail around Cub Lake is over 7 miles long, but it is a loop with many hills and rocky bluffs. We also discovered one section had a massive amount of colorful mushrooms, which Day liked. I enjoyed the diversity of the trail, which had every kind of challenge you can imagine. We hiked the Cub Lake loop a few times and also did it in a downpour, which is common when you hike. We always came back dirty and exhausted, but we loved that place. Last year we discovered a new place to hike, the Kettle Moraine State Forest in Wisconsin. We hiked with my sister-in-law Beth who is a professional musician. We four of us had fun talking and laughing on the “Ice Age” trail.” That specific trail is for people who cross-country ski and is used in the winter.
“ I hope anyone who reads this will explore the outdoors. People can download the AllTrails app to find trails and track the miles they hike. If anyone needs suggestions, they can contact me for a list of nearby hiking in Illinois!” Starr finalizes. But what most may not know is that there is more to the English teacher than just her love of nature.
“I would say that the thing about Mrs. Starr as a teacher that has stuck out to me the most over the years is her ability to be honest and real with her students and staff.” Senior and member of the RHS yearbook staff, Lily Mitchelle, discussed everything Mrs. Starr has done or experiences she has had with the teacher in the past, explaining how it affected her. Almost every student who has had any experience with how Mrs. Starr is in the class can agree with this statement. Mrs. Starr is not only real and honest, but also energetic about her teaching, students, and yearbook staff. “She is very open about discussing how to resolve problems as they arise and this creates a teamwork mindset among her students and especially her yearbook staff.”, Mitchelle.
Mrs. Starr, who has been a high school English teacher for 15 years, also has a lot of experience being the yearbook director at Rochester High School. She has mentioned the incredibly close relationships she has formed with past yearbook staff, some of the friendships spanning years after graduation. Some end when the student goes off to college but that does not eliminate the extent of Mrs. Starr’s effect on the young adults preparing for their future and careers outside of our small high school in Illinois.
She is a teacher who knows how to treat her students, and all of the students at school by making them all feel welcome and included. Every morning, people can find her dancing and singing along to the music playing just outside her classroom door- tunes spanning from Billy Joel to One Direction. Students and staff never know what to expect from Mrs. Starr, in an exciting, unique, and refreshing way from some years at school where it feels as if everything’s the same and never-ending.
“Mrs. Starr has affected my life personally by not only teaching me everything I know about designing/creating the yearbook but also how to prioritize and manage having multiple challenges at once. This has also been a helpful skill to implement into my life academically.” said Mitchelle. She naturally had many good things to say about the excitable teacher with whom she has spent the last three, coming up on four years.
So, whether it is outdoor hiking adventure story times during classroom downtime or loud guitar riffs at eight in the morning. Students and even staff can always expect something new and exciting from Mrs. Starr, something that students will remember for years to come.
