After graduation, most people believe their high school life is over and all that remains are the unforgettable memories they made throughout their four years. Most would never suspect they would end up even being back at the school they graduated from. This is all different for Rowan Pugh. In June 2014, Pugh raises her cap and says her final goodbyes to her friends, but not a final goodbye to FHN.

 Pugh was heavily involved in StuCo, but cross-country and swimming were one of her favorites because of her relationships with her teammates. Luckily, she can also recall some of her favorite teachers like Mr. Manfull, and the English Language Arts teachers that impacted her a lot like Mrs. Scheller, Mrs Wurtenburg and Mrs. Parks.

 “I was also part of publications, so Manfull has done quite the job of setting up his awesome programs,” Pugh said.

 Pugh graduated from Truman State in 2018, where she received her bachelor’s after four years. She’s currently a year and a half done with her Master’s program, and will be officially done in May 2020. Comparing a high school’s education system to a college’s education system isn’t fairly easy or justifiable, but Pugh remembers her English class being remotely the same as high school, mainly due to the class lit discussions that would usually be held.

 “I think, if anything, the main difference would be I had more creative freedom in college,” Pugh said.

 The program, that Pugh was in, to be enlisted as a student teacher in a Missouri district was run by her college, Truman State. Pugh applied to three districts, but had to rank which one she wanted first, and she chose the Francis Howell District first. Still left with two more, her application also got sent to Wentzville and Parkway, alongside FHSD. Seeing as requests are fine to put in, but not a guarantee, Pugh put in a request that she would love to work with Shelly Parks. 

 “I did all this stuff right before Shelly was announced 2018 Teacher of the Year, so she emailed me, “We’ll probably be out of the classroom most of the time, but Francis Howell North would love to have you, so I’ll just pair you with somebody else,”” Pugh said. 

 Pugh is now currently paired with teacher Kristen Johnson, who mainly teaches Mythology and AP Language and Composition. Pugh was not familiar with Johnson in her high school years, but has known her since July 2019. Pugh felt it was scary going in to FHN, but luckily, her and Johnson hit it off right from the start. They both love each other’s company, and enjoy teaching together.

 “So we did a guessing game with our kids to see which fact they would guess goes with Mrs. Pugh, and which fact goes with me. It was funny because we were trying so hard to find differences, but we ended up finding more and more similarities,” Johnson said.