When it’s spirit week, everyone going into the Upper C Wing can not miss  Casey McClure, a Social Studies teacher at Erie High School, with her bright outfits and personality. Everywhere you look in McClure’s life, you can see how passionate she is.

McClure has lived in Erie, Colorado for most of her life, though she did not go to Erie High as a teenager. As a child, McClure was very into sports, “I had played from a young age, and played all the way through high school,” McClure recalls. 

Her father is a professional sports announcer. This led McClure to attend many sporting events growing up, creating her to have a greater interest in sports, “My number one interest is anything related to sports, whether it’s basketball, soccer, football, baseball, the Olympics, etc. I love sports,” McClure claims.

For most of her life, she played sports. So, when she went to high school, she was on the varsity team every year after her freshman year. She then went on to play intramurals in college. 

McClure played a variety of sports, from basketball to soccer. Her soccer team even won the state title her first three years of high school, and her basketball team made the Elite Eight her senior year.

Unfortunately, during her junior year, McClure was unable to actually play in the state championship with her team, “I had two major concussions, back-to-back. The second of which I blacked out from,” McClure said. 

So, even though she was technically a part of the team, she could not be with them during that time. This was a challenge for her since she was very invested in the sport.

“When I was 17, that was a huge deal. I’m seeing all my friends win the state title, and I’m sitting in a dark room at home.” McClure says. 

In the end, though, this was a learning experience for her, and she ended up understanding that you cannot always get what you want. 

During her high school experience,  McClure also came to know what she wanted to do when she graduated: become a social studies teacher, “I’ve always liked kids… [and] when I got into high school I had some pretty stellar social studies teachers, so that made me fall in love with social studies,”  McClure recalled

After she graduated, McClure went to Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, and followed through with her goal. There, she got her degree in social studies and secondary education, “[I] was one of the few people who started college with their intended major and finished with the same major,” McClure says.

While in college, she also got some first-hand experience, which ended up only making her more passionate about teaching. She got to experience teaching a seventh-grade social studies class.

“The cool thing about my university, teaching-wise, is that they help us get into the classroom freshman year,” McClure says, “It made me just fall in love more with teaching and being with kids.”

McClure’s greatest passion is for children, she loves interacting with them and helping them learn. “I do love history too, but I think I love kids more than history,” She says.

McClure’s passion for kids shows not just in the classroom setting. Her sister, Hailey Beaver is even able to see it, “Everyone seems to love her,” Beaver observed, “She’s their favorite teacher, and I think that’s because she loves her students as if they were her own.”

Beaver also noted that students feel comfortable talking to McClure, and sought out her support during rough times, “I know a lot of kids have [had] something going on with their personal life, and really [sought out] her advice and support during that.”

Not only does McClure give emotional support to her students, she also works with a nonprofit, Collegiate Crossing, to help students plan for their future and achieve their goals. This program helps students regardless of their post-graduate plans: whether they are going to college, the military, or a trade school, the nonprofit will offer support.

McClure often works with Erie students at Collegiate Crossing, and is able to build more relationships with them, while also helping them, “I’ve worked with four of the seniors in this senior class at Erie, helping them navigate the post-secondary work… [and it has had] a super positive impact on both me and every kid that’s gone through the program,” McClure says.

During the three years that McClure has worked at Erie High, McClure has not only impacted students, but also her coworkers. Kaitlyn Gentert, one of the other social studies teachers at Erie High, has been best friends with McClure ever since they started working with each other.

When McClure first started teaching, her family suffered a major loss, and Gentert, who was her mentor at the time, had the opportunity to help her through it, “She had a really trying the first year… and I was just coming out of some hard things in my personal life, so it’s like I was [meant] to be her mentor teacher anyways.” 

As Gentert gave support during McClure’s loss, they bonded, and became close friends, “That took us from just being colleagues to friends to basically sisters.” Now, they spend a lot of time together and have seen each other grow during the years of their friendship.

“She is more independent now, I think she is more sure of herself. It’s so interesting when you go through fire and you come out the other side just so much stronger,” Gentert commented. She has seen McClure become both a better person and teacher.

During that trying time in her life, McClure had to learn how to deal with her loss, even though it can still be very hard, “I’m still dealing with it every day, there is still a time where I try to text or call my sister and realize I can’t,” one of the things that make it a bit easier for her, McClure found, was the “people in [my] life that [I could] lean upon, like Ms. G, [who is] one of my best friends in the whole world,” McClure says. 

Though loss is a pain that does not just go away, she works through it, and strives to, “love hard no matter what, because you never know if you’re going to get it tomorrow,” and McClure loves hard, her love for others only helping all those involved.

The way McClure interacts with others helps them grow and be better people, “She challenges my own teaching by asking questions and helping me or having me evaluate her lessons. She’s challenged my test writing skills when we sit down to write better tests, [and my] leadership skills when we’re trying to work with different members of the department.” Gentert commented.

Now, McClure is looking to the future. She has plans to get her master’s degree within the next few years. She will still be working full-time at Erie, but will also be a part-time student at college. Those are not her only plans though, for she hopes that soon she will be married to her boyfriend, who she’s been dating for a while.

Gallery • 2 Photos