Melbourne High

World history and personal finance are an important graduation requirement and a lot of students take them. Luckily, there were a lot of teachers for those classes, and Mrs. Monique Reynolds is a new addition to the world history and personal finance teachers. This was her first full year of teaching high school students. The reason she was such a great teacher was because she liked to teach IB MYP World History and Personal Finance. She wants students to understand the necessity of understanding history and the practicality of personal finance– they are important and are a part of being a better person.   

Mrs. Reynolds was an amazing teacher and part of it is because she listens. She asked her students for feedback with an interesting twist: the feedback was anonymous. This was a good thing because it gave students a safe way to be honest, which helped her improve as a teacher and made the classroom more comfortable for everyone. Like many new teachers, Mrs. Reynolds had faced the challenge of finding her own style in the classroom. “This year, my challenge is student behavior and to be balanced between being a fun teacher and a stern teacher, and the balance is what I hope to learn,” she shared. When asked why she chose to teach these subjects, she explained, “I was a psychology major, so it is considered social studies, so my history came along with it. Personal finance also falls under behavior and social science, and I got the opportunity to teach it because it is important for everyone.”

Even though this was her first full year, Mrs. Reynolds had already made a strong impression on her students. She continued to build a classroom environment where students felt heard and supported. Her dedication to world history and personal finance ensured that students walk away not only with knowledge of the past but also with skills they can use in the future. It’s clear that Mrs. Reynolds was not only teaching lessons, but also inspiring her students to grow both inside and outside the classroom.

Caption:

Engaging Students in History and Finance: Mrs. Monique Reynolds talks to her students during a world history lesson. As a new teacher at Melbourne High School, she worked to balance being approachable and disciplined and encouraged students to give feedback to improve her teaching. “I teach three classes of personal finance, which are mostly sophomores, and world history, which are all freshmen,” Mrs. Reynolds said. By combining her passion for history and personal finance, she helped students understand the importance of learning from the past while preparing for the future. Photo by Aadhya Patel.