By Cal Wilson ‘14

In her thirty-seventh year of teaching, English teacher Debbie Reier has the longest tenure of any staff member at the school. The Sherwood of today is not the same as the one in which she began her career in 1976.

Since she began at Sherwood, Reier has seen the population of Sherwood grow. “There were 1,100 students throughout the four grades when I started here and now we’ve almost doubled,” said Reier. The increase in students at the school has made it more difficult for teachers to establish close relationships with the student body as a whole. According to Reier, Sherwood used to be a closer, more tight-knit community.

“[When I first started at Sherwood] if I walked down the hall at least I felt like I might know your face but now that has completely changed. The larger we get the less we are able to interact personally [with students],” said Reier.

But an increase in the number of students and staff is not the only change Reier has noticed over her years at Sherwood. She has witnessed the introduction of numerous AP classes and the implementation of MCPS’s six keys to college readiness.

  “I have noticed incredible changes in the academic rigor of Sherwood,” said Reier. “I think that in the decades I’ve been here the staff has been really diligent in their efforts towards improving academic rigor, making kids college ready and really challenging kids with the AP program that has really taken off.”

Reier’s style of teaching was adopted to not just help students with the curriculum but also to teach them life lessons and expand their understanding of the world. Group seminars and open lectures incorporate the students into their own learning. Since day one of her career, Reier found it important to establish a sense of respect with her students. She genuinely believes it is important, not only in the classroom, but in life in general to have the ability to respect and be respected by one another.

“I have always been very concerned with establishing a relationship of respect with students,” said Reier. “I cannot expect students to provide respect to me if I don’t provide respect for them. [Early on] I confused that with being your friend; not that we can’t be friendly, but I think it is a very tenuous relationship to put that care and compassion out there,” said Reier.

In addition to teaching such courses as AP Literature and Honors English 12, Reier has had an incredibly influential role at the school in the area of theatre and performance. Reier was the drama director for 30 years, witnessing its transformation from the “Jesters” to Creating Awesome Sherwood Theatre (CAST). She has seen the drama club blossom from one show a year to four: a straight, musical, senior show and dinner theater. Although she resigned as the sponsor five years ago, Reier finds it important to help out with the extracurricular activities because it allows her to be more involved with her students and also show her love for teaching students.

“I know that we both strive for high quality productions and a great experience for all of the students involved [in a show],” said IT systems specialist Andrew Dodge, the current theatre director. “Mrs. Reier has been a great resource to me especially when something comes up that she may have dealt with previously [in a show].”

Whether it’s teaching theatre or English, Reier has made an enduring, immeasurable impact on Sherwood. “I am very passionate about what I do, I love what I do,” said Reier. “I adore this job. I wouldn’t be here for this many years if I didn’t and it makes me happy.”