Rachael Varland got a taste of what it’s like to be an Eagle when she was a student teacher at C.M. last year, and she liked it so much that she is now our new math teacher.

Varland is from Geneseo, Illinois, and graduated from SIUE this past spring. She moved to the Bethalto area over the summer with her two dogs.

She has played softball competitively for most of her life and helped coach the JV softball team at CM while student teaching last spring. She currently teaches algebra.

Having been a student teacher here, she was already familiar with the math department. “Adjusting to CM has been a breeze… The faculty and students at CM have been very welcoming, which has definitely helped with adjusting to teaching during a pandemic.”

She also said that she has found hybrid learning to be a blessing in disguise, as it has forced her to find different and more creative ways to teach her students.