With her wide smile and contagious laugh, English teacher Katie Dorris brings tired and bored sophomores and juniors to life. Great Gatsby characters Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson look sulkily at the back of the heads of students as they laugh along to Dorris’ amusing anecdotes.

Now going on her third year at Perry, Dorris switched from Mountain Point High School, a part of the Tempe Union High School District in 2014. She says that “the students at Perry are one of a kind.”

Senior Evan Cannon was in Dorris’ fifth hour sophomore class her first year of teaching at Perry, and looks back fondly on her class. He explains, “I was able to go to her anytime and she would listen to whatever was on my mind or was having issues with.”

Dorris regularly becomes close with her students, almost like a second mother to them. She is an actual mother as well, with two young children. Kyla, 8, and Caden, 5. She describes them as active, and any student who has been in her classroom can testify to that through her hilarious stories about her children.

Dorris describes motherhood as “the most rewarding and complicated job a woman can do.”

Dorris is also one of the sponsors for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Club on campus. Dorris is active herself and has played soccer since she was a little girl. In fact, she originally intended to be an adaptive physical education teacher, but switched majors in college, attending both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.

She discusses her switch from physical education to English, saying, “I leaned on what I knew best, what I had been good at in high school. I was excited to teach English because I thought it would offer me the opportunity to do more creative and fun lessons other than the other subjects. Sadly I didn’t think about the amount of grading it would entail.”

Sophomore Kim Pospisil is a sophomore in Dorris’ sixth period, and enjoys her teaching immensely, calling her “sweet.”

On her website, Dorris declares, “I take a great deal of pride in my job and love what I do.” This shows through her energetic and caring teaching style.

Senior Melissa Teague was in Dorris’ first period last year as a junior, and explains, “I love how she wants to follow every rule but is patient with everyone.” Teague also describes her as supportive. Dorris consistently gives second chances and is understanding about difficult circumstances with all her students. She is also certainly one of a kind.