Faculty Profile: WHS ELL Teacher Ms. Conerly

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WHS ELL teacher Ms. Conerly

Larissa Carmargo '23, Contributing Writer

All the way from Louisiana WHS ELL teacher Ms. Conerly traveled to Massachusetts when she was just six years old. She is a mother of two energetic boys who keep her busy. As a mom, she loves hearing her children’s voices, the little one when he calls her “mommy” and she loves the interaction and knowing that they love her a lot.

Ms. Cornely’s first name is Alkeia and it came from her mom’s best friends and it’s Arabic. She loves to dance, travel, and spend time with her family. She grew up in Worcester; Worcester is very diverse and her favorite teacher in high school actually inspired her to later want to be a teacher herself. Her teacher encouraged her to go to college and she really motivated her, because she always said Alkeia is very smart and she believed in her potential.

And initially, she went to college to become a pharmacist. She was good at doing it, but it wasn’t enough and she was seeking more. Ms. Cornely changed her degree to English and her mom was really upset about it.

Ms. Conerly’s first-class ever teaching English was being a substitute teacher in an ELL class. It was really a challenge and she fell in love with it. About her choosing teaching ELL students in specific is because, in her opinion, they say the funniest, they do the funniest things, they have so much personality like their lives are interesting, their culture, their background, and language. They have been through a lot and they have a lot of stories to tell in a short period of time. And she loves different experiences so being an ELL teacher changed her life because she has the opportunity to learn new things every day.