Ms. Ceane, who moved to Kent from North Carolina in August of 2018, has been teaching here for five years and has sent both of her sons to the school. When asked what she values most about being here, Ms. Ceane cites the town, the sense of community, the attention from teachers in small class sizes, and the academic rigor. 

Ms. Ceane was the chair of the Safety Committee – a  group of employees, both faculty and staff, who discuss and address safety issues that are reported by the community – for three years. Currently, she participates in the Curriculum Committee, which reviews the entire academic program and makes significant decisions about courses and textbooks at Kent.

In addition, besides being the head JV volleyball coach, Ms. Ceane used to be a JV softball coach, and also helped out with developmental golf and timing swimming meets. Although she is experienced, she considers coaching the most challenging part of her job at Kent. “It is not natural. I need to learn how to do it without lots of guidance.” Ms. Ceane stated with a smile, “It’s a lot of responsibility.”

Academically, as a math teacher who has taught Introduction to Calculus, AB and BC Calculus and AS Statistics, Ms. Ceane prefers to make students do the majority of thinking during class. “You can’t learn by watching, you have to learn by doing,” she says. Instead of traditional math classes, she always assigns collaborative work which requires students to work in groups, with little guidance from the teacher during the whole process. “My favorite thing is to see my students grow and change throughout the year,” she says. “They may be worried at the start, but they end up feeling confident, resilient and proud of themselves.” 

In her five years at Kent, Ms. Ceane has realized that she is capable of a lot of things, such as finishing a heavy workload in limited hours. More important for her, Kent has made her understand that she doesn’t need to be perfect all the time. “My overall goal for my life this year is to maintain a sense of ease and gentleness with myself while still doing good work.” Ms. Ceane showed me the tattoo on her wrist: “Progress not Perfection.” She shared that she used to be a perfectionist, someone who wasn’t satisfied unless everything she was doing was exceptional, but that living at Kent has enabled her to shift this mindset and gives her a break. “It is a huge gift.” 

Last, Ms. Ceane suggested to all the students, especially freshmen, that “Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Do not take everything so seriously. Just relax a little bit and enjoy yourself. It’s not a big deal to fail a test.”