We all remember the face of the old Civics and AP Government teacher Brandon  Mudd. His long hair and positive attitude still leaves an imprint throughout  the halls of the school. Though he is a face we could never forget, who now takes up the space in room 303? 

Throughout the past few months, different substitute teachers have been trading places in Mudd’s old room. Now the permanent occupant is Julie Anderson, a Civics and arts and humanities teacher.

Anderson comes all the way from Louisville, where she’s taught at Atherton High School for the last 14 years.

Before that, though, she went to Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), then earned her masters from Indiana University Southeast (IUS), to then go to substitute at her old high school, Fern Creek University. 

She found her love for teaching long before high school, though. A certain teacher inspired her when she was just a little kid.

“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since fourth grade, I think,” Anderson said. “I had a really great teacher that year and she just always made the job look fun.”

She finds a lot of enjoyment in history and drama, as well as being a teacher. So the two came together for a perfect match.

“I’ve never taught arts and humanities before this year so this is brand new to me, but I’m having a lot of fun with it,” Anderson said. “I love art, and I love drama and acting. I’m so passionate about teaching history because I feel like we have to learn from the mistakes of the past. If we don’t reflect on things that happened long ago, then we’re doomed to repeat those mistakes.”

Although Anderson loves the essence of history and drama, there are some parts of her teaching that are more challenging than others might think. 

“One thing is not being able to be there for everyone all the time,” she said. “When you’re teaching high school and there are so many students that you interact with every day, I feel like sometimes teachers are spread so thin that you can’t do all that you want to do for kids.” 

Outside of the challenges of being a high school teacher, though, she loves being a mom to her two daughters. Anderson says there’s always something to do with them, since they are both involved in lots of sports.

She is also married, and loves doing things with her husband like going to a nearby lake to fish, hiking, and attending concerts.

“We’re very family oriented,” Anderson said.

Now another thing students may not know about Anderson, is that she taught rapper Jack Harlow in AP Human Geography when working at Atherton.

“He was determined,” Anderson said. “I remember him telling me, ‘I’m going to be a famous hip hop artist, Mrs. Anderson, wait and see.’ I believed him.”

Anderson remembers Harlow releasing music while being in high school.She said that she doesn’t listen to a lot of rap music, but her husband does, and would often listen to the music he was releasing. He and his friends would also go around sharing music with each other. 

He also made her realize that there should not be any reason why people can’t accomplish their dreams.

“Students say stuff all the time about their big dreams, and, why not? Why can’t you achieve that dream,” Anderson said.

Though Jack Harlow taught her something, she also thinks it is important to teach her students to be lifelong learners.

In an article written about Mudd by Claire Prater, Mudd said,, “It has become increasingly clear that people don’t value education anymore. Not students, not parents, not politicians, no one.”

Well, then, it is a perfect match for Anderson to take over Mudd’s room.

She says she wants to teach her students the value of education, and becoming a lifelong learner.

“I think the most important part of my job is making learning fun,” she said. “Teaching students the value in learning, learning something new every day and growing. I think becoming a lifelong learner is just something that we should all strive for.”