One of the most famous teachers at Bishop Feehan is the English Chairperson, Ms. Bickford. With a stunning 356 followers—which puts her as the English teacher with the most followers—on her teacher Instagram account (@msb.literature), she has amassed her following through her educational and funny posts on all sorts of English-related topics. She is the club moderator for Female Empowerment and she is a huge supporter of all Feehan sports—especially cross country since she used to be a coach. Another signature passion of Ms. Bickford is her love for Taylor Swift. Since she is a vital part of Bishop Feehan’s culture, the ‘Rock Report decided to interview her.

Ms. Bickford wanted to go into a job where she interacted with people and she wanted to do something “where [she] felt like what [she] did had a purpose and was worthwhile.” The teachers she had when she was in school impacted her and led her to become a teacher herself. If Ms. Bickford wasn’t an English teacher, she thinks she would be a math teacher saying, “which is weird because I feel like the way that a math teacher teaches math and the way that an English teacher teaches English are totally different.” However, she also said she would still try to make math fun and interactive like she makes her English courses. Ms. Bickford has taught AP Literature for 10 years now. She came to teach AP literature during her fourth year teaching at Feehan after the department chair who was teaching the course retired. She remarked on her love for AP Literature saying, “AP Lit was my favorite class when I was a student,” and that love fermented her desire to be an English teacher when she grew up. AP Literature is her favorite to teach because Ms. Bickford has creative liberty and flexibility over the course and the reading materials. Also, she loves teaching the course because she can “create a course that [she feels] like is responsive to what [she hears] from [her students].” Even though Miss Bickford’s favorite class to teach is AP Literature, she loves her regular junior English class. This class goes a lot further back in time when it comes to the texts they read; the course challenges the students to realize how the text is relevant to them and why it is still studied even if it was written hundreds of years ago. Although Ms. Bickford is the English Chairperson and the AP Literature teacher, the titles are not a package deal. To be a Chairperson, a teacher has to apply and the Principal, at the time, will choose the best-fit candidate. 

If Ms. Bickford could teach absolutely any course on any subject, she would love to teach a course on Broadway. Ms. Bickford is an avid Broadway lover who loves musicals and their production. She thinks that she “would have so much fun teaching a class that is the history of Broadway and looking at particular productions.” To expand on that idea, she would love to use her English background to look at specific productions and look at their writing and development. She would also love to teach her own Taylor Swift course but she thinks that sadly there is a “very limited audience” to a course like that. However, she still thinks it would be very fun to analyze and look for clues in Taylor Swift’s TikToks. Ms. Bickford’s advice for anyone is to try “to look for the positive.” Even though the positive it’s hard to find sometimes, “take a deep breath and try to find something that you can concentrate on to be grateful for in that moment.”