Substitute after substitute. Stranger after stranger. This is what U.S. History students dealt with after the sudden departure of their teacher, until now. Meet Randi Fitzgerald. A history teacher with a love for the “Twilight” saga and Tasty Tacos. 

“I’m excited to be at East. It’s bigger than schools I’ve been at in the past,” Fitzgerald said. 

She started her job at East on October 27. She is coming in after former teacher, Aaron Kelly, was dismissed earlier in the year, but she isn’t letting the situation interrupt her teaching. 

“It’s a unique challenge but since I’ve been a sub for four years, I’m used to coming into new classrooms,” Fitzgerald said. 

So far, Fitzgerald has been welcomed at East with open arms by both students and staff. 

“Students and staff love her energy and her positive outlook on life and teaching,” School Improvement Leader Sherry Poole said.  

Fitzgerald has had a love for history since she was 10, so the job fits her interests.  

“I enjoy finding out about the lifestyles and habits of people from different time periods and trying to figure out how I would have felt if I was in that situation or what I would have done if it were me,” Fitzgerald said. 

She wants to share her love for the subject with her students and help them learn. 

“I wanted to become a social studies teacher because I wanted students to begin to see that history is about more than just a bunch of dead guys who fought in wars, and that we are living history today,” Fitzgerald said. 

She also wants students to not hate history and she hopes to become a better teacher while she is here. 

“It’s very obvious she cares a lot about her students and works very hard to encourage all of her students to succeed,” East teacher Don Heese said. 

When she isn’t in the classroom, Fitzgerald loves spending time with her family. Whether it be out on her farm with her fiancé or at a sporting event with her sisters, she is always doing something. 

“My sisters and I like to go to anything that has to do with Kansas City sports teams,” Fitzgerald said. 

She takes advantage of her summers also, she spends them poolside. 

“I’ve been a lifeguard in the summer for the last seven years,” Fitzgerald said.