Teaching all started from elementary school in her pretend classroom. Imagining what it would be like to be a teacher and to have her own classroom and students was something she loved. Her love for learning and her love for school has inspired her to be the teacher she is today. Leah Brown (known as Ms. Perkins) is a math teacher at Early College, but she does much more than teaching.

Mrs. Brown said while I was in elementary school “I would play school and make my little brother pretend to be my student. My teachers would give me old school supplies that I would use in my pretend classroom.” Mrs. Brown said that she had never heard of an early college until she taught at Duplin Early College in Kenansville, North Carolina. Therefore, teaching here at BCECHS is not her first rodeo.

Mrs. Brown said that her favorite memory of 2021 was “watching the sunset at a luau on Maui with my husband on our honeymoon.” Her favorite thing to look forward to in 2022 is traveling to Italy and Greece in June of this year.

A goal Mrs. Brown has as a teacher is to “show my students kindness each day.” A goal Mrs. Brown has for her students “that they would leave my class with a passion for learning.”

Mrs. Leonard, an English teacher here at early college says she likes “Mrs. Perkins can do attitude.” If Mrs. Perkins can do it, she will do it.

Mrs. Jessup, the counselor at early college says that “Ms. Perkins is an awesome math teacher because of her genuine love for math! She really wants her students to see math as approachable, not overwhelming. She is patient, while also having high expectations for her students to make an effort and ask questions. She is super supportive and empowering to her students in the classroom, and in the clubs she leads!”

Isabella Wood, a freshman at ECHS said “Ms. Perkins is honestly the best teacher I think I have ever had, her personality and her love for teaching math is really what encourages her students to try their very best! Even though I don’t have her this semester for Math 2, I go and speak to her every day because she is an amazing teacher and she treats us like her own!”

One of the many extra things Mrs. Perkins does outside of teaching, preparing students to travel and explore the world during the summer through EF Tours. She said “I was fortunate enough to travel to Brazil during my junior year of college and since then, I have had a desire to travel to as many places as possible. Traveling allows us to humble ourselves and appreciate diversity. When we travel, we gain a deeper appreciation for cultures other than our own and also return home more grateful than we left. When I travel with students, I get to interact with them on a whole new level and we have so much fun together getting to learn more about each other and ourselves.”

Many students get to explore a new country and for some their first time because of the life changing opportunities that Ms. Perkins gives. Students receive learning opportunities and have very positive experiences. ECHS is very fortunate to have a dedicated teacher like Ms. Perkins.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Mrs. Perkin has snorkeled with sharks in the open water in the Florida Keys and has seen a wild sloth in Costa Rica?