Teacher Feature: Mrs. Kelly Redd

When Mrs. Redd was in middle school, she and her friends would always wonder, “How come we don’t have our own high school?” Mrs. Redd grew up in Crofton. She went to Crofton Woods Elementary and Crofton Middle. “So, once I found out that Crofton was building a school, I was like, if I am going to teach at a high school in Anne Arundel County, I want it to be this one.”

This year, Mrs. Redd was able to come back to her hometown to teach Environmental Science and Honors Biology to grades 9 and 10 at the new Crofton High School. She loves teaching science because “Science has always been something that I have been really passionate about. I have always loved nature and the whole idea behind science.” Mrs. Redd is most proud of helping students that are passionate about science to follow their dreams and fostering the love of science.

Teaching during a pandemic may not be how Mrs. Redd envisioned her start at Crofton High School but she believes that “Online teaching has its ups and downs. The hardest part is building relationships with students because a lot of times I am just looking at a little symbol on a screen and it makes it a lot harder to get to know the students.” Once in person classes resume Ms. Redd is most excited about getting back to doing hands-on learning and labs. 

Even though online school has its challenges Mrs. Redd seems to be reaching her students despite not being in person. 9th graders Sarah Ani and Dansu Chhetri had nothing but nice things to say about Mrs. Redd. They both are taught by Mrs. Redd  in Honors Biology. Dansu shared, “My favorite thing about Mrs. Redd is that she is not super strict and she lets us enjoy learning.”

Sarah added that “Mrs. Redd stands out because she always makes sure she answers everyone’s questions and if she doesn’t know the answer she takes time to find out.” They both shared that they really enjoy when Mrs. Redd shows them webcams of the animals from the National Zoo at the beginning of every class.

Outside of school Mrs. Redd and her husband enjoy doing home renovation projects. Right now they are redoing the first floor of their house. She jokes that when she retires she wants her own HGTV show.  Mrs. Redd describes her house as a “small zoo.” Her family has a dog named Anchorman Ron Burgundy but they just call him Anchor. They also have a bearded dragon, a rabbit and two fish tanks. 

Mrs. Redd enjoys watching Maryland Basketball. She has played basketball since she was a child. She even played in college at Western Maryland College, which is now McDaniel College. Although basketball is her favorite sport, her son is very engaged with soccer, so she has found herself watching more and more soccer.

Mrs. Redd is happy to return to Crofton and be a part of the Crofton High School Community. “For me Crofton was such a great place to grow up and so I am excited to be able to give back to the community that raised me.”