CTE teacher Kylie Dorth is in her third year leading the Park Ranger Practicum program at Akins, where she is able to pursue her passion for introducing her students to working in parks and with wildlife, including snakes and various critters she keeps in her classroom. Before teaching the Park Ranger program and various ecology and Principles of Agriculture classes, Dorth taught middle school science and worked as a park ranger.

The Eagle’s Eye: What subject do you teach? KD: My capstone course is my practicum, which is for my juniors and seniors, and that’s my park Rangers. And we go out to Zilker Park and help out the (City of Austin) Rangers. I also teach wildlife ecology, range ecology, and Principles of Agriculture

EE:When you were a child, did you imagine yourself doing?

KD: Yes and no. So before I was a teacher, I was a park ranger myself, so that was what I wanted to do. It didn’t work out because every job was temporary. So I became certified to teach. And so I was an eighth-grade science teacher for 10 years. And then this position specifically opened as the park ranger teacher. So this is the best of both worlds. So it allows me to do all of the Park Ranger things while also being in the classroom, teaching

EE: How do you feel on your First day of teaching?

KD: Scared. Teaching is scary, especially if you have never done it before. And because I was alternative certified, I didn’t go to college to be a teacher. I went to college to essentially be a park ranger. So, you know, you crash and burn a few times, but then you learn from your mistakes. Now I love it.

EE: If there was one thing you could say one thing to yourself when you were younger, what would it be?

KD: Ooh, that’s a good question.I think I would give myself the Advice of, like, that everything happens for a reason. So now that I’ve lived my life and I’m like, you know, in my 30s, I always tell my students now, like, all these chains of events happen for a reason, and the moment, you don’t know why they’re happening, right? So when I couldn’t get a job in the parks, I was like super depressed, and I was upset and I’m like, man, this is what I really want to do. And then now I’m in this unicorn job, where because I had that experience, it allowed me to get this specific teaching job and allowed me to get out of like teaching eighth-grade science. And so that’s kind of the advice, because, man, I sure did get like really down and out back in the day of like, man, why is it my life this way or that way? But now I realize I had to do all that stuff to get to where I’m at now.

EE:If you wouldn’t have this job, what was your other target?

KD: I probably would still try to work in the park system. I don’t know where I would live because I lived in Colorado for a bit, trying to work at the parks. I’ve lived in different parts of Texas. So if I didn’t have this job, I’d probably still try to have some sort of park ranger job somewhere.

EE: What’s something that you like about this specific job?

KD: Getting to go outside, and I like the mixture of manual labor and learning things. So we’re out there washing trucks some days, or we’re out moving mulch or fixing trails or doing stuff like that. I think, is also really beneficial because it’s not just like from the textbook, because some students are not good, like textbook learners. So that’s not how they learn in a classroom like that. So they need that outdoor environment.

EE: What’s one of your favorite memories that you have teaching?

KD: Ooh. You know, I think it’s probably some of these recent jobs of me being here, and I think seeing the excitement on students’ faces, who maybe have been told throughout their schooling, like, you’re not good at math or you’re not good at school in general, and they kind of like depressed about school and don’t like it. And so some of these kids who I have in my practicum, especially, seeing how good they are at identifying bird species or identifying plants and seeing the joy on their face of like, I feel like it’s, like, super rewarding as a teacher to see that, like, we’re not all good in textbook things. And so it’s fun that some students excel with all that.

EE: What is something that you enjoyed during your school experience?

KD: Okay, then I’ll go with college. I took a geology class where I learned about a bunch of gemstones and rocks, which, again, probably sounds boring to a lot of people, but I love it, and we learned how to, like facet a courseartz gemstone, like a diamond, like what you’d have in a diamond, but it was quartz and so we had the whole machine and learned how to like face it was super fun. That was the final for our class.

EE: Is there a specific species you would want to have in the classroom?

KD: I’ve secretly wanted a tarantula for a while, but i have not gotten into the archinaids yet; but I do have two special morph ball pythons, so he’s bred to be completely white and have blue eyes, so he’s not albino. That’s just how they are bred, mind of like how they breed dogs. For different qualities. And then Honey, my red tail boa, and she is like 7 feet long, so that’s kind of a cool snake to have. But I’m pretty sure I would get divorced if I had any more animals. My husband doesn’t like snakes, and he definitely doesn’t like spiders, but I do secretly want a tarantula. Whenever the first time a student see they react when they see the snakes? Usally they are very shocked