Not many teachers can say they’ve taught in three countries.

Rose Wiles, the gifted education teacher at J. Larry Newton School, can.

“I’m from the United Kingdom, but moved here in 2008 with my husband, Brent, who is from Fairhope,” Wiles says. “I have taught in Scotland, England and Baldwin County.”

She has spent the past five years teaching sixth grade at Fairhope Intermediate School and this is her first year teaching the gifted program.

“It’s my 10th year teaching and I love it,” she says.

One thing Wiles loves about teaching is building lasting relationships with her students.

“Our kids go through so many challenges in and out of school, and having somebody they can trust and rely on can make a big difference,” she says. “There’s nothing better than seeing past students and hearing about all the great things they’ve been doing.”

Wiles says many people grow up knowing they are going to be a teacher, and she wasn’t one of those people.

“A year before I needed to apply to university, my cousin began teaching kindergarten in a local school,” she says. “She needed some assistance in her classroom, so I decided to spend one morning a week helping with art projects. Within a month, I was hooked! I applied to various elementary education programs and was lucky enough to be accepted to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.”

In addition to her cousin she helped before she attended university, Wiles says there is one teacher from high school that inspired her to take up this career.

“Mrs. Taylor, a teacher from my high school in Weymouth, inspired me to be a warm and loving teacher,” she says “I saw how students that shut down in one class would participate in her lessons. She would say, ‘Being miserable is just too much like hard work.’ Her positive attitude was contagious.”

One lesson Wiles hopes her student learn outside the lesson plan is treating everyone with unconditional positive regard.

“We don’t have to agree with each other,” she says, “but you do have to speak and act carefully and respectfully. If we could all manage that, then I’m pretty sure the world would be a better place.”

TEACHER: Rose Wiles

SCHOOL: J. Larry Newton School

GRADE(S) TAUGHT: Gifted education

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