From teaching at a men’s maximum security prison to working as a college admissions officer, new English Literature and Survey and Survey Composition and Literature teacher Margaret Starrett has a wide range of educational experience to offer LAHS.

Starrett’s involvement with the education system began with her parents: her father, a professor, and her mother, a high school teacher. But as a child, Starrett didn’t enjoy high school.

“If you had told me in high school that I would go back to teach, I would have bet you a million dollars that it wasn’t true,” Starrett said.

At Willamette University, Starrett double-majored in English and history. During her junior year, she received a grant to teach those same subjects at Oregon State Penitentiary, a men’s maximum security prison. To her surprise, she enjoyed the job.

“I loved facilitating the moments of growth at the prison and giving people tools to access parts of themselves they otherwise wouldn’t,” Starrett said. “That led me to want to focus on the tangible skills of how to present your own voice.”

But at the time, Starrett still wasn’t sure if she wanted to be on a high school campus. So instead, once she graduated in 2016, she became an admissions officer at Scripps College. 

During the first half of the year, Starrett loved her new job. She interacted with students and helped them make the best choices for their future. As the second half of the year rolled around, though, Starrett realized that being an admissions officer wasn’t the right fit for her.

“I had to read students’ incredibly personal stories that they spent so much time working on and then reject them,” Starrett said. “That was devastating. I still have nightmares about some of the personal essays I read and had to reject.”

Starrett wanted to uplift student voices, not reject them. In 2017, she became a high school librarian in Southern California. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, she found that students were struggling to find information about the global crisis.

“I wanted to be a part of the amazing educators who were giving students the resources they needed,” Starrett said. “From there, I was finally able to dip my toe into being a teacher.”

Starrett taught at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz during the second half of 2021 and remained there for four years. There, she worked on cultivating close bonds with her students and supporting them to the best of her ability.

One former student of Starrett, Molly Endert-Tatum, double-majored in English and History, just like Starrett had. Endert-Tatum had initially chosen to major in Environmental Science, but, thanks to Starrett’s encouragement, ended up switching her major.

“Ms. Starrett was the first person in my life who made majoring in English seem like an option,” Endert-Tatum said. “I’m a junior in college now, and I’m so happy with my decision.”

Eventually, Starrett’s dream of supporting students with more resources led her to LAHS. Despite her former self’s aversion to the role, Starrett now thinks being a high school English teacher fits her perfectly.

“I love to bake, knit, read and go hiking and camping,” Starrett said. “I often listen to audiobooks and knit. Stereotypical English teacher.”

“I could ramble about Ms. Starrett for so long,” Endert-Tatum said. “She has truly changed the course of my life.”