Resilience can not even begin to describe the life of Katie Rude. From adapting to living in the Dominican Republic, to just grappling with the everyday duties of an English teacher, Rude shows that she can handle any challenge that comes her way. 

Rude described her experience in the Dominican Republic as truly life changing.

She said that teaching American Literature to kids in the Dominican Republic has helped her create a personal connection with the content she teaches in her Pre-AP World Literature class at Fossil Ridge High School. 

“I was able to see poverty like I’ve never experienced before in the Dominican Republic and then I was able to travel to Haiti and it was just so eye opening just to see privilege and racism,” said Rude.

She connects this experience to her teachings of “the danger of the single story” and how misconceptions of different cultures lead to negative stereotypes.

With this experience in mind, she explains that she thinks it’s important that the curriculum expands beyond the country’s borders and informs students about cultures outside of their own. 

“I think American culture or maybe we as Americans generally like probably have some misconceptions about different cultures or we’ve never thought about other cultures or we’re stuck in our own…I like to break those down and just kind of investigate other cultures and people for what they are,” said Rude.

On the theme of informing students on current events, Rude is excited to jump into the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

“‘It’s always just an important text, heavy content, but important content. And also, this year I feel like it’s just going to be different and really important since stuff in Afghanistan just blew up with the exit of the US troops, so I’m excited for a new take on the Kite Runner.”

Rude also faces adaptations and struggles as a teacher as well. She explained that she feels as though “the profession sometimes is disrespected”, and people don’t often realize the long hours both in and out of school and the intense commitment that comes with being a teacher. Nevertheless, Rude can not imagine herself doing anything else and enjoys how spontaneous her days are. 

“I like that my job is never the same. Ever. Any day, hour by hour…the students are different all the time and interesting and fun to learn with. I get to learn and grow with students, because I’m not an expert, so I get to get better as I go. I could never imagine myself just sitting at a desk job”

Rude attended CSU earning an undergraduate degree in English Education and earned her masters at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She said that when she started her college career she knew that teaching was exactly what she wanted to pursue. She explains that starting internships and student teaching was when things really felt like they fell into place for her.

“I realized that I like it, like I love teaching and I get like the warm fuzzies interacting with students and when they get it and like it and enjoy English.”

Rude is also responsible for hosting Knowledge Bowl and National English Honor Society. She enjoys working with upperclassmen and people who consider English their niche. However, she also prides herself in helping students who may not like English so much. This year, Rude is striving to help struggling students through the READ Act Coordinator. 

For those struggling students, Rude would like to pass on the message that through kindness, every day can be a little easier.

“I think you got to be kind. I don’t know that I’m always good at that at all. But I think being kind is a good default, especially in our world just like COVID and everything going on, super important to see other people. You don’t know what they’re going through…”