Mrs. Tilley is one of the five new teachers at Brentwood High School this year.

Mrs. Tilley was born in St. Louis but attended high school in Georgia. She graduated from Roswell High School, about 30 miles outside of Atlanta. Before she was a teacher, she waited tables throughout college. Mrs. Tilley went to Harris-Stowe State University for her Bachelor’s Degree and then Lindenwood for her Master’s Degree.

Previously, she taught at Hazelwood Central High School; before that, she taught at a small school in O’Fallon called Christan High School. Now at Brentwood, she teaches Computer Applications, Business, and Personal Finance. But she would like to add some new classes for the business department.

She wanted to be a teacher because she enjoys kids and teenagers specifically, she likes how teenagers think and learn and see the world, and she wanted to be a part of helping shape the world with us. 

She started teaching English because she loved to read and write, but she learned that kids don’t like to read, so we switched her focus. 

At first, she wasn’t interested in a new job. Still, she would check now and then to see if there were any openings. She liked Brentwood’s small environment because Hazelwood Central was so big that she missed going to graduation knowing the kids.

She doesn’t have a favorite lesson to teach her class, but she likes the final exam projects, where kids make a budget based on what job they think they are interested in and their salary. 

During the pandemic’s peak, she was teaching, which was weird because when she went to work, she would have to plan virtual classes. She and the kids weren’t ready to go virtual, and the whole semester was a mess. She also found it hard to connect with kids and get to know them over a computer; many kids had their cameras off, and it’s harder to get to know your student over a computer than in a classroom. More kids were either sleeping, playing video games, or even walking away from their computers to do other things than paying attention. 

We’re glad that she stuck with teaching, though. And we are so excited to welcome her to the Brentwood team!