Alicia Claflin, an English teacher at Prairie High School (PHS), has been a part of the Falcon family for 18 years. Claflin started her journey by graduating from Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington. She continued her academics at Central Washington University attaining her bachelor’s degree in English education. She then pursued and got her master’s degree in literacy at Walden University in Minnesota.
Claflin needed a local job, as she did not want to leave the area. She decided to try out at PHS and was accepted as a teacher; she soon took on the role of an English teacher at PHS and immediately fell in love with the school. Claflin loves the environment that PHS brings, welcoming her, and providing a safe working place. Claflin is proud of staying at PHS and teaching there for 18 years so far.
Claflin has made many big accomplishments, but the one she is most proud of is that she is one of the two teachers selected to represent the battleground district as an English teacher. She has always challenged herself and pushed herself to become the best teacher she can be, and she is proud of herself for achieving such a hard goal. Claflin loves to get involved in the classroom in many different ways, never keeping the class boring. Her new goal to accomplish is to “always grow as a teacher and in the classroom”.
Claflin loves to make sure her classroom is a safe environment for all those who are in her class. She strives to make sure students feel safe, welcomed, and valued in her class. Claflin enjoys getting to know her students outside of the classroom. One of her top students, Wyatt Burkhartt, took Claflin’s class in both his junior and senior years. Burkhartt has grown in so many ways by taking her class that he has “thrived in my areas of interest and thrived in learning critical information”. Burkhartt took English III his junior year and he immediately realized his love for English and what he wanted to pursue. Burkhartt admires Claflin’s work and hopes to be as good as her one day.“Claflin didn’t just like me as a student, but also believed in me and saw my potential.”
