Relaxed, fun and upbeat. These are all qualities students appreciate in a teacher.

There has been a new addition to the Lincoln High School faculty this semester. Mrs. Stevens-Webb has taken the place of U.S. History and A.P. U.S. Government teacher Mr. Pike, who retired at the end of last semester. Mrs. Stevens-Webb is a teacher who truly cares about her students, even starting each class with “two minutes of silence,” during which students are able to do nothing but sit there and have time to take a deep breath.

She was offered three jobs but chose Lincoln. “I love the creativity of students here. I love art and I just love students creating and I think it’s great that students feel so empowered to create things here,” she said. Mrs. Stevens-Webb has only been teaching in an official capacity for about four years but has done other work in education for fourteen years.

Just from the first couple of weeks, many students already view Mrs. Stevens-Webb as an amazing teacher who really connects with the class. “I really care about my students. I want to know what they’re interested in,” she said. On her first day, she had her U.S. History students write an essay titled, “All About Me.” At the end of the period, a lot of students shared about how they liked how she openly cares about students individually.

“I want my students to say they feel prepared for whatever’s coming up next. I want [my students] to feel that they can apply the things that [they] learned to [their] life now. I want [my students] to be like, ‘Oh my god, you have to take Mrs. Webb’s class! It’s the best!’ I want students to be saying that.” Allison Reich, a junior who has only met Mrs. Stevens-Webb, said, “Why can’t I have her as my teacher?”

Jailynn Grant, a junior in Mrs. Stevens-Webb’s first period U.S. History class, said, “She’s pretty chill. I like the way she teaches, honestly. She shows that she cares for her students and their education. And she helps us understand what she teaches by comparing it to something that happened in real life.”