Teacher Profile Series: Washtucna teacher Lacii Rundquist

With the first day of school behind them, teachers everywhere, new and returning alike, are settling in to the new school year. One such teacher is Washtucna high school and middle school English teacher Lacii Rundquist, who is starting her first year as a teacher.

Rundquist was born in Benton City and moved to Washtucna while she was in high school. Her journey to her teaching job is perhaps a bit unusual. She hopes to be able to use her background to help students who may have a hard time being motivated to stay in school.

"I dropped out of high school for a year," Rundquist said. "I dropped out for a year and didn't know I could come back. It was one of those things where I was a teenager thinking other things were more important than going to school."

Leading up to her decision to leave, Rundquist acknowledges that she had fallen into some bad habits. It started with skipping class, and grew from there.

"I was one of those teenagers who was like, 'School is a waste of time and I want to socialize with my friends,'" Rundquist said. "I just didn't see the importance of school. There was so much other stuff going on that I didn't want to miss out on. I wanted to get my foot in the door, to start making money. I wanted to be able to be an adult. I was in a hurry."

After dropping out, she got a taste of what life is like without an education.

"I got a job at McDonalds and I was flipping burgers," Rundquist said. "I said, 'I'm worth a little more than this.'"

It didn't take long for fast food to grow old for Rundquist.

"I'm a very patient person," Rundquist said. "But, I don't like being told I'm doing something wrong when I know I'm doing it right ... I had one of those days at work where every time I turned around, someone was telling me I was doing something wrong. I felt like I was always doing the same motion. I was in a stand still. I had a life that I had in mind when I was younger and it clicked back into my head."

So Rundquist turned to the people who she says has always supported her: her parents. She says they were always supportive, even when they may not agree with her decisions.

"They didn't want me to drop out, but at the same time they knew that in order for me to know it was a bad decision, I had to make it," Rundquist said. "I'm very lucky, my parents were very supportive of me."

So with her parents' support, Rundquist returned to school long enough to graduate. She then got married and had two children while taking a job at Walmart.

It didn't take long for her to again want a better job so she could better take care of her family. So she attended online school at the University of Phoenix. After getting her bachelor's degree, she continued on and earned her master's degree. She knew she wanted to teach so she could help guide children through a part of life that she found very difficult herself.

She applied and got hired for a teaching job in the very building in which she attended high school. She feels her experience will allow her to relate with students who may be going through the same things she did.

"I think it will help me level with the students," Rundquist said. "I can be like, 'Look, I remember what it was like when I was your age, and I didn't want to come here either. But here's the thing: I chose to chose to come here. I chose to make something of myself rather than to let this pass by.'"

Rundquist says she aims to get students to at least finish high school so that college can be an option later on.

"One of the things that helped me want to finish high school was thinking about how when you're 21, you'll not allowed to be in high school anymore," Rundquist said. "There's an age limit on high school, but there's not an age limit on college. So as long as I finish high school, I can always go to college if I feel like it in the future."

Rundquist says English has always been her favorite subject. "It's so pretty," she said. She says she's glad to be able to share it with her students.

She spent much of the summer planning her reading list. She wanted to take on books that would appeal to her classes. For instance, her 9th grade class only has four students in it, and they are all boys. So she picked a book she thought would appeal to them.

"I would rather make sure to have something the kids are going to understand and excel in than to throw something at them that I don't know if they are going to catch on to," Rundquist said. "For my 9th grade class, I said, 'Okay, these boys are probably not going to be engaged in Romeo and Juliet, so let's do Julius Caesar.'"

Other books she plans on using this year include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Scarlet Letter" and "Freak the Mighty."

"I read 'Freak the Mighty' with my husband because I was bored and he wanted to hear it," Rundquist said. "We both really enjoyed that book. I'm excited about the messages that are involved in the book, like 'don't judge,' and 'you'll be surprised who can help you.'"

Rundquist said she also enjoys English because it includes both reading and writing. She plans on focusing on both areas equally.

"Reading and analyzing literature is more about feeling, and writing is about expressing," Rundquist said. "So when you read, you get to feel, and when you write, you get to express what you feel. That's part of what I love about teaching English."