Recently, teachers and students across Huntley High School have identified a shooting star traveling across the school. Starting from the upper West Wing of the building to the Raider Aid room, this star shares its joy and power while surprisingly saying, “You matter.”

As a kickoff to 2022, the math department welcomes Rebecca Godez as their new official math teacher. Rebecca has seen it all: her education began at MCC and progressed to ISU, and concluded with her student teaching at three different high schools. 

At first, the future was confusing and plagued with doubts, but now, Rebecca can lead any math class she teaches as if she has been a veteran in the field of education. 

“When I was in high school, I knew I liked math and that I was good at it. But my main focus is wanting to help others. At first, I wanted to do something within the medical field. Then I thought about Actuarial Sciences, but that’s just a lot of sitting behind a desk when I want to communicate with and help everyone,” Rebecca said. 

Life went back and forth, but life also brought her to becoming a math teacher. It may have taken an extra year and a half, but Rebecca finally found where she could be happy and share her joy and passion with the world. 

Once she found that she was meant to become a teacher, she finished college and went straight to student teaching within McHenry County. Starting off with Dundee Crown, she then moved onto Hampshire and then topped everything off with, you guessed it, Huntley High School.

She taught here for almost an entire school year, but then decided she wanted to stay. And with great joy, she earned her first pick to teach here at Huntley. 

“The minute I walked into the school and saw the ’You Matter’ slogan on the wall, I felt that this is my place and that the lifestyle here is awesome. Not because Huntley here says you matter, but because I can finally say you matter strongly,” Rebecca said. 

She has already found her life here, from her caring presence as a teacher to the way her office already screams, “REBECCA GODEZ.” Her dedication and care for her students have shown no limits to where even as a student teacher, she searched for any way to make math fun for her students and improve their grades. 

Rebbeca always looks for connections and avenues for students to have fun with, or at least pay attention while in math class. Back at the beginning of this school year, she worked with a student who struggled with the lesson and unfortunately, failed the test. 

“He came to me and asked for help, and we stayed after school for an hour going over the lesson. The next time he took the test, he went from an F to a B+,” Rebecca said.

Her students can go to her for anything they need in her class, and she will always be there. Even all the other staff love Rebecca too. Her first couple of semesters here already solidified herself as a strong and passionate teacher. 

“Her positivity is really impactful, and I think that’s a lot of what our culture needs here too. She is one of the most genuine and positive people I know who radiates good vibes,” said Kalrigh Pantinella, English teacher and friend of Rebecca. 

While Rebecca underwent student teacher training, she proved herself over and over that she was the one for the job even though she was still new to becoming the teacher.

“For her first time full-blown teaching, she was by far the best student I’ve ever had. She’s super sweet and truly cares about her class,” said Dana Kallas, math teacher and mentor to Rebecca. 

Rebecca provides that fresh breath of kindness and determination that Huntley High School has been craving for so long. She looks for the best in everyone and strives to bring joy to her classes. To her, every student deserves her full care and attention, all because: “You Matter.”