At the beginning of each school year students receive new schedules and new teachers, but few ever stop to wonder what their teachers have accomplished outside of the classroom. Teachers bring much more than curriculum and lessons to schools. They bring knowledge from previous experiences and jobs that benefit students in a variety of ways.
At Xavier College Preparatory, there are many teachers with impressive backgrounds and skill-sets in different fields. Their insight and wisdom help teach Xavier students important lessons every day.
Dr. Clay Zuba is an English teacher and the Pierian Spring club moderator. Before joining Xavier’s community he worked in mortgage finance and as a university professor at several colleges.
Zuba has a Ph.D in English, and is very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. He still teaches for Arizona State University Online teaching “master’s level classes for people who are getting their degrees in English,” said Zuba.
Outside of teaching, Zuba has written an yet-to-be published novel, that is a prequel to “The House of the Seven Gables” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Zuba went into mortgage finance after attending undergraduate school, and worked in the industry for fifteen years. However, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in English and did not like the stress that came with working in the mortgage industry.
Zuba’s experience in working in other industries, in college-level teaching and professional writing have allowed him to bring a unique perspective and teaching style to his English students. He is able to deepen students’ understanding of writing and to improve their writing and critical thinking skills using his real-world experiences.
Dr. Camille King is another teacher at Xavier with a unique background. She teaches science, and is the Science Club moderator. She is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to the United States to attend graduate school in Washington, D.C. in order to pursue the field of anatomy.
King later went to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and worked in epidemiological studies before moving to Phoenix, Arizona. After moving, she contacted Xavier to see if anyone could use someone with her expertise in anatomy.
She started working at Xavier in the fall of 2016 and realized that she enjoyed being a part of the Xavier community and loved teaching. “Being a teacher is really my calling,” King said.
Apart from her work in teaching and science, King always tries to live a life reflective of Christ.
She is very involved in community service, and encourages her students to get involved as well. King worked with Wild at Heart Raptor Rescue, for birds of prey in Arizona. She offers service hours for students who would like to dissect and prepare rats as meals for the birds at the sanctuary.
“In addition to being a scientist I believe we need to serve our community in as many ways as we can,” King said. She blends her experiences in working in labs and in the field of anatomy with her dedication to always giving back to her community to inspire and teach her students.
Xavier alumna Kaitlyn McCoy found her passion for teaching during her time as a student at Xavier. “I figured out in my junior year in Mrs. Long’s A.P. Psych class that I wanted to be a teacher because I was able to help explain the concepts in different ways to help the girls sitting next to me,” McCoy said.
McCoy was a member of the Xavier swim team and during her senior year she committed to swim Division Ⅰ at Boise State. The pandemic hit in 2020, however, and Boise State cut its swim program. She continued her athletic career at the University of Indianapolis for the next three years.
McCoy graduated from the university with a degree in secondary education in English literature. Afterward, she accepted a graduate assistant position for swim at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland where she worked as the assistant coach for the swim team while simultaneously paying for her master’s degree in humanities.
Now, McCoy teaches English at Xavier, creating a full-circle moment. “I always knew that I wanted to come back to Xavier, to give back to the community that had given me so much,” she said.
Zuba, King and McCoy bring experiences and passions to their classrooms that foster excellence, faith and service to students, values that are fundamental to Xavier.
